A Light in the Dark
by supworld
Summary: Leo Valdez had a great life. He had a home, amazing friends, and even a hot girlfriend. He should have known none of that would last. All it took was for him to be in the wrong place at the wrong time for his life to shatter, thus, leaving him back to square one:all alone and in the hands of a complete stranger. (Takes place after the war with Gaea. Swearing, PTSD, and other...)
1. Wrong Place, Wrong Time

**Hey, people out there!**

 **Here is an angst-y/feels-y story for ya'll. This is only the second fanfiction I have written so far and I'm crossing my fingers to see what you guys think of it. Personally, I'm super excited to share this one because this is one of my all-time favorite story ideas I've had for this series. Now I'm putting it down on paper (actually, on screen, but you get the picture)! I don't really know how long this story will be, but it should be decently sized. Later in the story, I might - _might_ _-_ ask you guys to throw some ideas in to (in a way) create the story with me. Depends on how it goes, so don't get too excited about this. I think it would be cool though if I got some suggestions in the future. If I don't actually ask for your help in the story, it's not because I don't want your input, it's just because I have other ideas that might interfere or won't work with certain suggestions. We'll see how it goes though.  
**

 **Sorry for any ill-used grammar, misspelled words, and/or other**

 **WARNINGS: SWEARING**

 **SHOUT OUT!  
I don't own the Seven. :'(  
**

* * *

 **~Jason's POV~**

It was a late Saturday afternoon and Jason and the remaining group of the Seven from Camp Half-Blood were enjoying themselves at McDonalds before they parted ways for the school year. It was always hard to leave one another—especially for the ones who had to leave Manhattan—but Chiron was gracious enough to let them have a full day off to do regular teen activities together. Naturally, the only way to do this was by roaming the streets of this large city like any mortal would do on a regular basis (which was a treat for any demigod). This involved window shopping, a lot of goofing off, and eating at fast-food restaurants.

The latter was because of Percy and Leo. Both of them had insisted on stopping for a bite after spending a few hours at the zoo and there was nothing anyone could do to convince them of eating anywhere other than McDonalds, especially when they were together to back each other up. The two of them could actually come across as more convincing than Piper's charmspeak, and that was strong. After agreeing on something, they continued to nag like little children until the rest of them lost their minds and caved in. In a nutshell, yes, that's exactly how they ended up here and Calypso didn't look pleased about it.

"So," Jason interrupted Percy and Annabeth's conversation about whether adding blue food to the menu was a good idea. "What are we doing after this? We've done enough shopping to last us a lifetime and the zoo was great, but unless you guys want to go back to camp and train, you have any other suggestions?"

"We could check out the museum," Annabeth said. "I heard they built this new wing to the place and there's a ton more artifacts to learn about."

"Yawn," Percy mocked before Annabeth punched him on the shoulder. He rubbed it and glared at her for a second or two before throwing his own suggestion out there. "I vote the aquarium." This only received bored glances from the others at the table; even Leo, and you know it's bad when he, the joker, found it unamusing.

"Percy," his girlfriend started in a calm and soothing voice, almost as if she was trying not to upset an already sobbing child. "We just came back from the zoo. There were lots of marine animals there, along with tropical fish, remember? It was in the aquatic section. I know how much you love fish, but the rest of us are not interested in spending any more time with creatures one can only describe as scaly and wholly unattractive. They stink."

"That," he gasped with a hand on his chest, "was highly offensive. Some fish are actually quite beautiful! The Siamese Fighting fish is stunning!"

Calypso glanced over at Annabeth with astonishment. "Did you know he knew a type of fish's name?"

"Someone circle the calendar! Percy almost sounded smart!" Leo exclaimed while jabbing a French fry dipped in ketchup into the air. They all laughed.

"What I want to point out," Piper cut in, "is that Percy Jackson, the tough and powerful demigod, just called a fish 'beautiful' and 'stunning'."

Jason almost spewed his iced tea at him. "Ha! You're a softy at heart, aren't you?"

Percy pouted in his seat. "You guys make it incredibly hard to defend myself."

"Ah, lighten up," Jason told him while chewing his chicken nuggets. "Someone has to find fish beautiful and stunning."

Shaking her head like she didn't believe she was actually stuck in the middle of this conversation, Annabeth decided to change topics. "Seriously guys. What are we going to do next?"

"Dunno," Piper shrugged.

"Hey!" Leo suddenly beamed. "They have that fair on right now! Tomorrow's the last day! Who's up for rollercoasters and Brain Scramblers?"

That last part clearly confused Calypso. The face she made was priceless. "Brain Scramblers? What in the world is that?"

"A ride. It's one of those that spin around in circles really fast while the cars spin and…" He made a face. "You know what? Maybe I should just show you when we get there."

Piper stabbed a mouthful of lettuce on her plastic fork and took a bite of her salad. "Are we actually going to the fair?"

"Why not?" Leo asked. "Yo, Percy? You in?"

"You bet!" and they high-fived, reminding Jason strongly of the Stoll brothers.

"I'm up for the fair," Piper grinned with a one of Jason's French fries sticking half out of her mouth. "I haven't been to one in ages."

"Then it's settled!" the fire user declared. "We're going!"

They continued discussing their plans for the rest of their meal and their excitement levels went up. Even Calypso didn't seem to hate the food so much for a little while.

During their conversation, Jason managed to glimpse the door open to see two police officers walk in, one rather tall with strawberry-blonde hair while the other was shorter and well built. He didn't really pay them much attention, but after the officers stood in line for about ten minutes or so, he noticed both of them glancing their way with suspicious expressions. They would sneak a peek at their table discretely and then talk to one another in hushed tones so no one around them could hear. Then, the shorter officer with grey/brown hair took a folded paper out from his pocket and nudged his redheaded partner to look at it too. Exchanging a few words between the two of them, they continued to glance their way, making Jason hesitant. Did they do something wrong? What were they looking at? Whatever it was, he didn't like it.

Jason nudged Annabeth with his elbow and said in a low voice, "Those two officers are checking us out."

Her brows furrowed and she searched the lineup to find the officers he was talking about. "Monsters?"

Shrugging, he kept his eye on them in the most discrete way possible. "I don't know, but keep your guard up."

"You guys hear that?" Annabeth told the group in the same tone she used with Jason. "There are two officers over there who seem interesting in us. Go on like you are, but don't bring any attention to yourselves. Be ready for the worst."

At that, Leo fidgeted in his seat a bit and dared to look the officers' way. It was noticeable how uncomfortable he was. Jason knew from his past that he was constantly on the run from the law, even as a small child, but he never really understood why. Sure, he ran away from his foster homes, but it wasn't clear to Jason why he would repetitively run from them. If he was offered a home and family, why hadn't he just stayed where he was safe? From what Jason knew, living on the streets was always extremely dangerous, especially for a small kid. Leo was what? Eight years old when he first started running? Man, the guy must've been brave—or just stupid.

Their table continued in the same manner as before, hoping to lose the attention from the officers, but it never worked. Eventually, both of the police officers made their way up to the table and nodded politely at the group of teens.

"Afternoon," the grey-haired man offered with a friendly smile. His brown eyes looked human enough to convince Jason that the two officers were regular mortals after all, but it still didn't hurt to be cautious. With slight difficulty because of his dyslexia, Jason read his badge. Officer Burk was what it said.

Everyone stared up at both officers with mixed emotions: unease, curiosity, and confusion. Leo was the most anxious out of all of them, that much was obvious. His fingers began tapping against the table at a quicker pace than usual and he bit his lip.

"Afternoon," Annabeth replied back to them, mirroring the officer's smile. "Can we help you with something?"

"As a matter of fact, yes," Officer Burk said. "Both my partner and I are in the middle of a search to find a missing teen."

"Oh?"

Leo's posture straightened a bit at that. He must've been so used to hearing those words. However, instead of showing any more discomfort, he continued to eat his meal and took a bite of his burger.

"You see, he's been reported missing just over a year now," Officer Burk went on. "Apparently, during the beginning of the school year, he and his school went on a field trip to the Grand Canyon, but there was a large unexpected storm that took place there. Many of the students managed to get in to safety, however, he, along with his friend and gym coach, couldn't make it in with them."

Piper, Jason, and Leo all looked at each other with sudden panic. There was no way these officers weren't talking about them. Jason could feel his heart pounding slightly faster than normal at the description these strangers offered them. It matched up to the real happenings. What he wanted to know now, was how in the world these people knew about that? Like they said, it was over a year ago now and that episode had happened on the other side of the country. How could they possibly know?

Officer Burk then pulled out the folded paper he had been looking at earlier, and handed it to them before he continued. "We were able to get some information from a few eyewitnesses who had been there that day. Apparently, the majority said they saw the missing teen, their gym coach, and his friend fighting against the storm. For whatever reason, the teen was tossed over the side of the canyon and so everyone had just assumed he was dead. Strange enough, a minuscule few of these witnesses also said they saw him escape with a small group of strangers and never came back. We don't really know what that's all about but police departments from the area managed to hand down the report to different states across the country just in case. He's been known to run away before and at rather large distances."

Jason froze as he saw the picture printed out in the center of the paper, just above the written information. Sure enough, it was a teen boy with tanned Latino skin, dark curly hair, brown eyes, an upturned nose, and pointed ears. He looked maybe fifteen and wore a smirk on his face as if warning whoever was looking at him to watch their back. Jason didn't know where this picture was taken but he knew the boy in it.

Leo Valdez.

Piper grabbed the paper from him and reacted the same way Jason had.

By this time, Leo was visibly starting to freak out. He knew it was him they were looking for. The look on their faces was enough information to give him that much. Jason noticed Leo's breathing was becoming faster and he refused to look the officers in the eyes. Mumbling to himself to calm down, he balled his fists tightly to avoid summoning unwanted flames.

"What happened to his friend and gym coach?" Piper asked quietly. Jason wanted to know their side as well. He understood the reason the officer had only mentioned one of Leo's friends with him because of Jason being hidden by the mist, but Coach Hedge was perfectly visible to them.

"Apparently, the few witnesses said they were tossed over the side of the canyon as well, but no one had seen them come back up."

Jason wasn't stupid enough to point out that Coach Hedge hadn't been thrown over the edge, but it was still enough to chill his very bones. That (aside from the coach thing) was all pretty much 100% accurate. How did the eyewitnesses actually see all of that through the storm?

At this point, everyone at the table had seen the picture, alarm written on their faces—except Leo. He didn't take the paper. He didn't look at it. He didn't look surprised. He just sat there, knowing and muttering to himself about literally keeping cool. Calypso clung to him with sudden protectiveness of her boyfriend and looked back at the police officers standing at their table.

It was then the younger cop with the red hair cut to the chase and stood confidently and with command. "Mr. Valdez, we're going to have to ask you to step out from your seat please."

Still, Leo didn't look nor show any sign of listening. Jason had started to wonder if he even heard the guy, but before he was certain, the officer repeated himself. "Mr. Valdez, step out from your seat please."

Leo looked up the second time and pointed at his chest like he didn't know who or what they were talking about. "Who? _Me?_ " he asked innocently.

"Yes, you," the officer grumbled with annoyance. "Now come on."

Leo's shock turned into a nervous smile. "Oh, shucks! You found me! Good job, guys! Now you can go back and tell them I'm alright and still in once piece! Sorry 'bout the wild goose chase, but you know, it wouldn't be much of a chase if I stayed in one state, right? Why not try them all?"

"Now!" the young officer nearly yelled at him. "Don't make me repeat it again, Mr. Valdez."

His smile faded and Jason saw him swallow with anxiety. It was a face none of them had ever really seen before. Still, Leo nodded and slowly stood from his chair. Calypso let go of his hand which she had apparently been holding onto under the table, and let him take a step towards the strangers.

The older officer grabbed onto his arm and began leading him away. "This way, Mr. Valdez."

"Wait!" Calypso suddenly said. "What's going to happen to him? What are you doing to him?"

The officer smiled kindly at her. "Don't worry, Miss. We're just going to take him down to the station to ask him a few questions, that's all. He'll be fine."

"And then what?"

"Miss," he repeated. "There isn't anything you need to concern yourself about. Everything's fine."

Jason wasn't fully sure about that.

Just as the officer holding onto him began reporting his find into his walkie-talkie, Leo suddenly twisted his arm out of the officer's grip and pulled himself free before dodging Officer Burk's grasp, bolting out the door, and down the street, all in the matter of seconds. Man, he was fast! It was noticeable how much practice he had had in his past. They guy could move when he wanted to!

The police officers yelled at him and burst out the door in pursuit after the runaway and disappeared from view. Then, not even discussing a plan to stop them, Jason and the rest of his friends all pushed through the lengthening lineup to catch up to their friend and his pursuers but they were building distance between them. Leo was barely visible through the thick crowds of people on the streets but the officers were easy to find. With their dark police uniforms, they stuck out like sore thumbs, which was good news. Hopefully they would be able to catch up to them now.

Jason was running as fast as he could, but it was hard. There were so many people crowding the sidewalks and such little space to move around. People blocked almost every opening he had planned on running through, making him more than frustrated. It surprised him how Leo could move so fast in this situation. He didn't even have long legs.

Panting as he got near the end of the block, Jason finally saw some different movement happening up front from the officers. They had stopped and were now shouting over everyone and into their walkie-talkies. Joining into the mix was another voice, but this one sounded familiar and seriously pissed off.

Sure enough, when Jason and the rest of his friends caught up, in the middle of a ring of bystanders who watched curiously, they found Leo being pinned to the ground on his chest and the redheaded cop with his knee on his back. The officer reached back and grabbed a pair of handcuffs from his belt and yanked Leo's wrists behind him, Leo yelling and cursing the whole time.

"Leave me alone, you son of a bitch!" Leo screamed as his wrists were cuffed together. "Stop it! I did nothing wrong, asshole! Get your frickin' knee off my back! Let me go!"

"What are you doing?!" Calypso yelled at the police officers. "Let go of him! Stop it!"

"Miss, I'm going to have to ask you to back away please," Officer Burk urged her and the rest of them calmly while making a wall with his arms. "We're taking care of the situation, now go back to the restaurant. Everything is going to be fine." He then turned back to his handheld radio and uttered into the static, "We got him. Arlston Dr. across Starbucks. Over."

Jason and the rest watched helplessly as Leo was now squirming under the weight of Officer Redhead like a fish out of water, desperate to be free. It was obviously a struggle to keep him from that because Officer Burk eventually came to his partner's aid and held Leo's head and shoulders to the ground. Both were pretty much lying on top of him at this point.

Piper attempted to use her charmspeak on them to let him go, but over the noise from the observant crowds that had become numerous, the shouting from the police officers, and Leo's constant cussing, her persuasive voice was lost, offering little to no effects. All there was left for them to do was sit and watch in horror at the scene in front of them.

Eventually, after probably two to three minutes of keeping him down, Leo was suddenly pulled back onto his feet as a police cruiser pulled up with its sirens blaring. It parked as close as it could to the curb and the officer that was holding onto him waited for Officer Burk as he opened the back door for him.

"I did nothing wrong, you assholes!" Leo shouted and struggled against his grip. "I did nothing wrong! Let me go!"

They payed no mind to his relentless outbursts of anger and cussing. Instead, they acted like he was simply a mere child throwing a temper tantrum and dealt with him in the calmest way possible. Pushing his head down so he wouldn't hit it against the car, the redheaded officer forced Leo into the cruiser with a single word: "Enough".

The door was shut and before they knew it, Jason and his friends were standing in the middle of the sidewalk with other onlookers, in shock as they watched the police car drive off with one of their best friends.

"What the hell…" Percy muttered. "Did that just happen?"

"Yup," Annabeth answered with disbelief. "It did."

* * *

 **This was a shorter chapter than I usually write, but it takes the pressure off of me knowing it doesn't have to be an average of 4,000 words and over like I usually do. Sometimes shorter is better. Cut to the chase and still have the information you need.  
**

 **How are you liking this story so far? I know it's only the first chapter, but I would still love to hear your thoughts. Reviews are my fuel to write! PMs work for me too, but reviews would be preferred (Please review!)  
**

 **Until next time,  
**

 **~supworld~**


	2. Interrogation

**Yup. This is the second chapter. You finally get to see what happens next! Super excited to share with you all!**

 **To** ThePinkSheep: **I'm so happy you're into my story even on the first chapter. I was planning on making it longer, but where I stopped it seemed like a great cliffhanger. (I'm known for those by the way ;D)**

 **To** Guest: **I'm updating now, aren't I? Glad you like it! Again, I love writing cliffhangers. :)**

 **This was a fun chapter to write. I will have you know though, I don't know anything about actual official police or social services stuff, so I'm making it up as I go. Hopefully it all seems realistic enough to sound authentic. If not... Deal with it... : /  
**

 **Let's read, shall we?**

 **WARNINGS:** **SWEARING** **  
**

 **SHOUT OUT!  
I don't own the Seven... which makes me cry. :'( I will have an OC somewhere in the story, but not yet. Wait to find out! **

* * *

**~Leo's POV~**

Leo sat on a hard chair in a dingy, claustrophobic office room feeling as miserable as hell. The scene was so familiar and depressing, reminding him of his pathetic childhood, and he hated it.

Once again, like so many other times over the course of eight years, he found himself stuck in a police station as if he was a problem no one wanted to deal with, yet, were forced to involuntarily. The sound of ringing phones and people rushing past the office door was nonstop, though there was an uncomfortable stillness of the room he was in at the moment. That made him nervous - like usual. Even though he was used to the scene, this was the part he hated the most. This was where the ongoing rollercoaster-of-a-ride started only to end in one or both of two ways: sitting in a room like this again, or the hospital and _then_ this. Either way, it meant he was stuck in a never-ending time loop that could only be described as his worst nightmare.

Even the layout looked the same. Tall shelving and large cabinets outlined the battered walls, which were of a pale, faded color. It was clear they had seen better days and were in a desperate need of a new coat of paint. Numerous newspaper clippings lined the room from top to bottom, each behind glass frames, offering the observer to "admire" the work of these fine officers.

He wanted to puke. Sure they did good in the community, but under the masks of those so-called "heroes", were demons hiding deep inside.

Okay, so that was a bit dramatic, but to Leo, the description was justifiable.

Suddenly his attention was brought back by the sound of fingers clicking on a keyboard. This unfortunately reminded him that he was still in that stupid office room where a large desk sat in the middle, too big for the place. The man sitting behind it wasn't much better.

Wearing a grey suit, Officer Henry Rowel (from what the little plaque said on the edge of his desk) had his eyes pasted to his computer screen, studying Leo's records carefully. He was a large man with two chins, the bottom larger then the top, and whiskers just starting to poke through his flabby face. He had absolutely no hair on his head which reminded Leo of an Easter egg. It reflected the light from the light fixture above, not to mention the thin window climbing the wall behind him. Leo would have loved to crack a joke about his egghead but he figured he could save it for later. He had more important things to worry about.

Like his freedom.

With a click of his tongue, Officer Rowel finally looked at him, pressing his lips together in a formal manner. "According to these records, you've been missing for a little over a year now, is that correct?"

"Ida know," Leo mumbled. "You tell me. I didn't even know I was reported missing until today."

"Care to tell me where you've been for nearly fifteen months?"

"Around."

"And what does around _mean_ exactly?" Officer Rowel asked with knit eyebrows.

"I've been all over the place. New York, Quebec, Chicago... Rome..." Leo told him truthfully. "Really, it isn't any of your business."

Officer Rowel looked at him funny for a second or two and turned back to his computer. "You were fifteen when you were reported, so you're what? Sixteen now?"

"Yupperoo," he answered while bouncing his legs up and down as he patted a rhythm on his lap. "Turned so in July."

"Mmm…" He continued to study his documents. "You're full birth date is July 7, 1998, correct?"

"Hey, you're good at this," Leo teased. "You should set up a booth or something; tell people you can read their minds and all that crap for the price of ten bucks a person. I bet you'd be rich by the end of the day."

There was a slight growl from the round man in annoyance, but he continued with his gaze staring at the screen.

The problem with these kinds of places was that Leo had gone through exactly the same routine over and over again throughout a whole half of his life, so he knew exactly what they were going to say before they even said it. He knew exactly what they were going to do before they could do it. This whole system worked like a giant clock that kept ticking and ticking and ticking nonstop. Ever since he was eight years of age, he'd been pulled into that clock and forced to obey all the rules so the clock could run smoothly. He'd tried to fight it in the past, but he realized that if he made any kind of mistake, it could seriously bite him in the butt later on. Thus, he stopped fighting the big guys and resorted to becoming a runaway. It was a heck of a lot easier.

"So you were born July 7, 1998. You grew up in Houston, Texas with your mother until the age of eight years before she died in a fire."

Leo tapped a new pattern on his lap. "Oh, don't stop now," he insisted. "I want to see how far you can go with all of this."

"Mr. Valdez, I—"

"Oh, I like that. Makes me sound all adult-like, you know what I mean? _Mr. Valdez_ …" he said in a deep voice. "Yeah. Call me that."

"Mr. Valdez," Officer Rowel repeated with a sterner tone. "This is not a game, so I would appreciate it if you would stop treating it like one. It is very important that you behave and simply answer the questions I ask of you, do you understand?"

"Gotcha," Leo assured him and began clicking his tongue like the ongoing clock this was. He _so_ wanted to be out of here.

With another slight scowl, Officer Rowel turned back to his computer. After typing with his chubby fingers on the keyboard, he looked intently at the screen. "I want to look back at how this all started."

Leo smirked. He just loved messing with these guys. It frustrated them all. It was as if they were _begging_ for him to tease them. "Well you see, when my mom met my dad, they fell deeply in love—"

"Mr. Valdez!"

"Present."

The big man sighed with irritation and rubbed his face before leaning on the desk so he was somewhat closer to him. With an even sterner voice, he told him, "I don't think you understand how serious I am trying to be with you. You treat this like a game, still, when I ask you not to. You blurt out whatever pops into your head just because you feel like it, and you are showing no respect to anyone you have come in contact with since you were found earlier this afternoon. In fact, I bet you haven't shown anyone any respect since the day you were first brought in as an eight-year-old child. Now you are going to listen and you are going to behave. It isn't a request, it's an order. Got that?"

Yup. Leo was waiting for him to say something like that. "Sure thing, big man."

He huffed with rage but with the look he gave him, Leo saw he was finally beginning to understand that this was just the way Leo rolled. The repetitive clockwork was being fought and avoided. If Officer Rowel wanted him to cooperate, he will have to learn to let Leo lighten the mood just a tad for his own sake at least.

A minute passed while the two just stared, challenging the other to speak up. Eventually though, Officer Rowel saw it wasn't going anywhere so he went on to the next question. "Tell me about the trip to the Grand Canyon. Do you remember anything that happened that day?"

"Sure," Leo offered with a grin. "That was the day I found an extra five dollar bill in my pocket for lunch. It was a good day."

"Anything else?" he asked lamely.

Leo mulled everything around in his head. Providing the answer was a little harder than the others before it. He couldn't just say, _yeah, my friends and I were attacked by evil wind spirits who managed to capture my gym coach, which yes, actually turned out to be some crazed satyr. Then we were taken to this wickedly awesome camp for demigods._ Somehow, he didn't think Officer Rowel would believe him, so he went with something a little more believable.

"I was with my friends checking the canyon out for our science and whatnot and there was this huge storm. My friends, my gym coach, and I all tried to help everyone into the building but we never got a chance to get in ourselves. There was, uh, a large gust of wind that pushed us all away from the doors and…uh…" Think, Leo. _Think_. "I got knocked out I think by something flying through the air so I don't remember much. What I do know is that I got thrown over the side of the canyon at one point and was pulled back up by my coach."

"Then what?" the round man asked with his finger tapping the keyboard, waiting for more.

"Then I found some people who were willing to get me out of the storm and my friends, my coach, and I drove off with them."

"And never came back?" Officer Rowel asked.

"Nope," he said, popping the _p_.

"So in other words, you were kidnapped."

He laughed. "Ha! No way! We were rescued by a couple of our good friends. We didn't return because we were all pretty bored from that miserable hell."

Officer Rowel made a face. "The Grand Canyon is a miserable hell?" he deadpanned.

"What? Nah, that place was cool. No, I'm talking about that Wilderness School I was enrolled in. I hated it."

"And why's that?"

"Uh, it was a prison," he stated as if it was the most obvious thing. "I couldn't do anything."

"I'm sure that was tough for you," Officer Rowel murmured under his breath and typed on his computer some more, _click_ , _click_ , _clicking_ , until he looked up at him again. "What's your life like now, Mr. Valdez?"

Not understanding his question, Leo squinted. "Uh, what do you mean?"

"You were seen with a group of friends today, is that correct?"

"Yes."

"So if you have that large a group to hang out with, you must live somewhere other than an alleyway, especially seeing how clean you look."

"Are you asking where I live?"

"Correct."

Okay, so now what should he say? "I…uh, live at a strawberry farm on Long Island," Leo said. It wasn't really a lie, just part of the truth while leaving most of it out.

Officer Rowel gave him a blank expression. "A strawberry farm on Long Island. How does that work? To live there, I mean."

"I'm glad you asked that," Leo grinned. "You see, it's not only a strawberry farm, but also a camp for special people like me."

This seemed to get Officer Rowel's interest. "A camp? What do you mean by special people like you?"

He shrugged. "You know. Troubled teens. It's kinda like that Wilderness School I was talking about earlier except _way_ better. There are always tons of activities, three large meals a day, and the whole strawberry farm thing going on. And," he pointed out, "it's not only a summer camp, but a year-round camp."

"So, you live there then?"

"Sure! I love it there!"

Officer Rowel leaned against the table and looked at him in all sincerity. "And what are all those activities you learn? Is there a proper school you attend in the middle of it?"

Sorta?

"Basically the whole camp teaches self-defense and all that stuff and there's school too." Does plain history count?

He took this all in with great consideration, digesting everything he had told him. Then a look of concern came across his face. "Does this camp of yours allow you to live there full time? And if so, who is your legal guardian? You can't stay there without someone being accountable for you."

Oh shit.

This was one of those rare questions that he didn't see coming. And the stupid thing is, he should have! He was sitting in the middle of a police station talking about all this social services crap for Zeus's sake! Of course they were going to ask if he had a legal guardian! After how many years of sitting through the same clockwork system, he still didn't realize that was going to come up? What was up with him today?

"I-I have a legal guardian," Leo lied. His fingers tapped wildly on his lap and he willed himself to stay in his seat instead of pacing the room. Nervous energy ran through his veins and it was times like this that he wished he wasn't ADHD.

Officer Rowel was typing on his keyboard once again, waiting for the information. "And who is that?"

Just as he was about to say Chiron, Leo stopped himself. No. He couldn't say that. That wasn't a modern name. Officer Rowel wouldn't believe that. "Uh…Ca-Car…. Carl Ron," Leo settled with. It sounded close enough. "Yeah. My guardian is Mr. Carl Ron. He lives full time on the strawberry farm too."

As Officer Rowel fell silent, his eyes skimmed the text on his computer. Leo knew what he was looking for and he started to seriously panic. He was looking for any sign of recent legal guardianship in his records and he knew he wouldn't find any. Leo had dug himself into a hole and he feared he couldn't get himself out.

Dammit! Why was his luck so bad all the time? Not only did he have to worry about saving the world as a demigod (which was enough work for any person), he was considered a runaway orphan in need of foster-care. After all the effort he made trying to avoid getting pulled back into the system, he could see himself failing, drowning in the unfortunate outcomes of his stupidity. If he hadn't let himself lose his natural instinct to run and hide as soon as he saw people of the law, he wouldn't be in this mess. Now, he sat here in this depressing office, watching a man who had more or less control over him, looking for Leo's legal guardian who wasn't even there. Could things get even worse?

"I-I don't think you'll find anything of him on there," Leo said, hoping he could actually find a way to turn things around. Unfortunately, watching Officer Rowel's gaze lift to him with suspicion, Leo began to panic again, leaving him stumbling on his own tongue and at a loss of words. His voice fading away, he uttered, "It's, uh, pretty recent that he agreed to be my guardian... so... the files, uh... won't..."

Oh, what the hell was he talking about?! There was no way he could explain why "Mr. Carl Ron" wasn't mentioned on his records other than admitting he wasn't telling the truth. For once, Leo Valdez didn't know how to lie himself out of this one.

Picking up on his uncertainty, Officer Rowel studied him quizzically, his elbows resting on the table and his fingers threaded together like a villain scheming a master plan, which, in this case, was to fiddle with Leo's life. "I've worked here for over twenty years and never before have I ever heard that excuse. Now why, Mr. Valdez, is your guardian not mentioned in your records?" he questioned him.

His heart pounded as he recognized the inevitable corner he was being backed into. His palms began to sweat and he fiddled continuously with his jacket's zipper. Part of him hoped his friends would barge through the office door and save him with their wickedly cool demigod powers, but he knew that wasn't how it worked. If it was, Leo could burst himself out of here with his flames, but it was like an unspoken rule between all demigods: their powers were for monsters only. Mortals weren't made to handle those kinds of things... well, most anyway. Rachel and Percy's mom were different. The point was though, he couldn't wiggle his way out of this one. Leo was stuck.

"U-uh... I ..." he stuttered.

Officer Rowel leaned back in his chair as if feeling successful in something. Leo's insides twisted seeing the look on his face. He was tempted to make a hate-filled insult at him, but knowing the kind of situation he was in, he at least had enough decency to see it wasn't going to get him anywhere. All it would do was push him further into the ground and that was the last thing he needed.

The fat man crossed his arms. "You seem to get yourself in trouble quite often, don't you, Mr. Valdez?"

This time, he stayed silent, inwardly throwing insults at the man. They were surprisingly satisfying.

"Not only do you talk back, you think you can weasel your way out of problems you've made for yourself. You see, there are two types of runaways. The first would be the innocent child escaping dangerous living conditions. The other: troublesome teens in search of attention and independence. Now, I'm aware you have had a difficult past, Mr. Valdez, but I will also point out that some of those hardships were caused because of you and your childish actions. Is attention what you're looking for? Do you want attention? Cause I will assure you, you have ours."

Leo gritted his teeth with anger and nearly jumped to his feet. He consciously had to keep himself from smoking. "You have no _right_ to condemn me of acting out just to catch someone's eye! Sure I made mistakes in my past, but you can't base my whole being on one or two unfortunate outcomes! You make mistakes too! And you're also forgetting that those two damn officers of yours tackled me to the ground after accidentally finding me on a lunch break! I didn't go looking for them!"

"No," he agreed surprisingly calm for the sudden uproar of anger in the atmosphere. "But you have made quite the record for yourself; well, from what was in your control that is. I'm simply stating the fact that this situation right now, the reason you're here in this room and the fact that you don't actually have a guardian, implies that you are still on the run. You don't have a home on any strawberry farm and you don't have schooling."

" _What?_ " Leo asked flabbergasted. "I do so -"

"It also implies that you are misdirected in the way you are formed in the real world, therefore, you have never learned the meaning of respect or responsibility," Offer Rowel continued adjusting his suit sleeves by the cuffs.

Leo leaned further on his chair so his was closer to the desk. "Officer, I _have_ a home! I _am_ directed the way I need to be in the real world! I _know_ what it means to -"

"No you don't," Officer Rowel told him out right with certainty. "You're problem is that you act without thinking about the outcome. Responsibility isn't even a thing for you and you profusely rude and sarcastic. Where's the respect, Mr. Valdez? You've lived on the streets for much too long -"

"Officer, please just -"

"- and look where it got you? Look at you!" he said with his hands motioning to all of him. "An unfortunate kid with little to no experience of what it feels like to have a stable family. We can offer you that with the help of a good social worker. We can offer you so many wonderful things if you could only see past your tunneled vision of your small world. There can be so much more than running and living on the streets. Don't you want a chance at a happy life?"

"I _am_ happy!" Leo fought back angrily.

The fat man simply shook his head as if highly disappointed in his son, his head shining from the light above. "Leo, Leo, Leo... Just because you don't have a stable life like most, doesn't mean you have to settle for what seems somewhat acceptable. Don't lower your expectations at such drastic measures -"

"I don't! If you could just _listen_ to me, I -"

"I'm sure we can change all that for the better." Officer Rowel then picked up his phone and placing it against his ear. He began dialing a long number. "Don't worry, Mr. Valdez. Things will turn out. Once your social worker is informed of the situation, he can assure you a safe home in which you will be very happy in."

This time Leo actually jumped to his feet with the building frustration and panic, slamming his hands on his desk. "No! You can't do this to me again! Please, Officer Rowel! _Please!_ I'm begging you! Don't make me go back into that system! I'm sixteen now! I can look after myself! Please! Don't do this to me again! Officer, I'm begging you! Please!"

It seemed his pleading was simply a waste of breath however because Officer Rowel just turned away slightly in his desk chair and greeted the person on the other line with a cheery hello.

Reluctantly, Leo slid back in his hard chair and buried his head in his hands, pulling at his hair and reminding himself to breathe.

Ohmygodsohmygodsohmygods... This couldn't be happening. After finding a home at camp, he didn't think he would ever have this problem. If this was a work of the gods, they were seriously cruel to him! What were the chances two officers would recognize him from something that happened a year earlier without them even being there? Oh, gods.

 _Jason, Percy, Annabeth_ , Leo found himself mentally saying to them. _HELP ME!_

* * *

 **This took FOREVER to edit. DX However, it's done now and I should be working on the next chapter soon enough.**

 **How was this chapter? Are you enjoying it? _Please review_ and let me know what you think! _PMs_ are okay, but _reviews are preferred_. :) THANK YOU SO MUCH IF YOU ALREADY HAVE! YOU GUYS ARE DA BEST!**

 **Chapter three in the making...**

 **~supworld~**


	3. We Want Our Friend Back

**How are you guys holding up? Was it mean of me to leave you like that? Actually, don't answer that 'cause I know it was. Ya luv meh! XD**

Guest: **Calypso will have her turn in this very chapter! Don't you worry! I can't possibly leave her out! She's his girlfriend for goodness sake! What kind of person would I be if I ignored her like that?**

yazbk2988: **Aw! Thanks!** **I actually mentioned in the very beginning of the first chapter that the " _remaining Seven from Camp Half-Blood"_ were enjoying their meal at McDonald's. Sorry that you got confused. I know it was a small statement that was easily overlooked. Now, you and other fanfic readers out there are aware. No. Frank and Hazel were not there due to being across the country at Camp Jupiter. They will come in later. **

goldenlynx16: **I'm guessing you are referring to Officer Rowel not listening to Leo? I have no idea if this is what they are really like in the real world. I kinda just made this situation up. Maybe they do and I'm spot on (which would totally make my day ;D), but as far as I'm aware, I have no idea. : /**  


7halfbloods: **I'm glad you are enjoying this story. Here's the next chapter and I hope you continue reading with as much enthusiasm as you show in your comment! :D**

 **Now that I'm done with the reviews, it's time to see how Leo's friends are taking this sudden turn. Ready... Set... Go! (Again, I also want to point out that I know nothing about legal or police stuff, so bear with me...)  
**

 **Sorry for any mistakes in grammar or spelling.**

 **WARNINGS:  
**

 **SHOUT OUT!  
-_- I feel shame for not owning these wonderful people. The Seven are not mine. Therefore, I cry. ;_; **

* * *

**~Calypso's POV~**

Calypso didn't know where they were heading exactly, mostly because she was still fairly new to this century, but she was told it was to the Police Department building. One of the officers had mentioned taking Leo down to "the station", so it must mean the same thing. At this point though, she didn't care what it was called. All she wanted was to have Leo safe beside her. She was incredibly scared of losing him even though the others kept insisting they would get him back. After watching movies and hearing stories about people being arrested, her number one fear was that he had actually been arrested and held prisoner in those awful cells. Was that how the modern world worked? They find a runaway and lock him up for good? If that was the case, Calypso was ready to cry. There was no way that she wanted to be apart from him, especially in that way. How would she survive?

She suddenly felt a cold hand press against her thigh and she averted her gaze from the city bus window to face Jason. He was sitting beside her while Piper and Annabeth sat in the row behind them. Percy sat in the rear, tracing his fingers along the map for each route glued to the wall of the bus, making a silent _whooooop_ for each turn his finger made. He was even more of a child than Leo.

"Are you okay?" Jason asked her with worry in his eyes.

In the reflection of his glasses, she could see her own expression. She quickly turned away. "Are you sure Leo wasn't locked away?"

"Hey," he said tightening his grip. "Everything is okay. He isn't in any life or death situation right now. He'll be fine whatever happens. We'll get him back, I promise."

"Are you sure?" she asked, facing him again with an even more serious tone.

Jason looked confused for a second. "Yes, Calypso. I'm sure. Why do you doubt that?"

"I don't doubt it so much as I... I..." She swallowed. "I just don't want to build up false hope. I've had enough experience in that department."

He smiled kindly at her. "Well you don't have to worry about false hope. If you know him as well as I do, you understand how stubborn he can be. He'll get his way. There isn't anyone who can take him away from us. He'll fight his way out like he always does."

Gods, she hoped he was right. Ever since he had been taken away, she had this inner feeling that he wasn't in control of this situation the way everyone seemed to think. Again, though, that could be because she was new to this world. The law worked differently than it did thousands of years ago. At least now people didn't get their hands chopped off for stealing an apple. Even Calypso thought that was rude and unnecessary. It was just a piece of fruit.

"How long until we get to the station?" she asked. They had been sitting on this bus forever it felt like and they made several stops on the way in order to pick people up and drop a few off. She understood why people didn't like taking the bus when they were late for work, especially in a huge city. Percy suggested to take a few taxis but Annabeth said the chances of finding at least one available to take even half of their group was a challenge. Apparently it was difficult to get around in the city on weekends.

"I'll be honest in telling you I don't know Manhattan very well. Annabeth?" Jason turned around to face her. "Are we near the police station yet?"

She broke her conversation with Piper and looked out the window. "Yes. It should only be a few more blocks to go actually."

Calypso sighed with relief. She could wait that long. Right?

* * *

Another few blocks later, the group was dropped off in front of a large building made with windows that lined the front. A sign hung above the door that read, **_NYPD_ **with a picture of a golden badge directly beside it. The main parking lot was filled with various models of vehicles, obviously the visitor's area. Behind that, to the right and left side of the building, Calypso could see dozens of parked police cruisers like the one that took Leo away, behind a chain-linked fence and ready for action. She wondered if one of those was the exact vehicle they had seen earlier.

As usual, Annabeth took charge and started toward the building. "Come on, guys. Leo should be inside."

From the side, Jason offered Calypso an encouraging smile and walked off with the daughter of Athena. Percy and Piper trailed after him while Calypso held up the rear and trudged along slowly all the while biting her lip. Her hands were clutched into fists but she tried to keep her head up with confidence. They were going to get Leo back. Jason said so.

The inside of the police station was much smaller than it appeared, and it didn't lack the simpleness. The floors were a smooth, dark, grey tile and the walls were a dusty shade of white. A long, dark, reception desk curved around most of the circular lobby, dividing the officers from visitors that were lined up in two separate lines. On either side of the lengthy desk, were mahogany doors that led further into the building, probably to the offices and backrooms. One of them probably led to the prison cells... or so Calypso thought. Again, she was new.

Annabeth led the way to the shorter line and they all waited for their turn to talk to one of the officers behind the desk.

While they waited, Calypso noticed a man in the lineup to their right was looking at their group in a funny way. He wore a dark pinstriped suit with a grey tie and in his right hand was a briefcase. His hair was slicked back with hair gel in a fashionable way and he was clean shaven.

It unsettled her the way he kept looking at them, but something told her he wasn't a monster. If he was, he probably would've already attacked them. No. He didn't have that kind of aura. He seemed merely curious as to why five teenagers were standing here in the police station. Why? Did teenagers not usually do this?

Apparently, their line was moving slower than the other, because it turned out that the man with the slicked back hair managed to get to the counter before them. He leaned in and said something in a quiet tone to the officer at the desk. Calypso heard something about him being here for someone but that was about it. They spoke off and on while the man signed a paper, what for, she didn't know. Eventually though, the man nodded and started off in the direction of the door on the left of the desk. As he passed their group, he offered a friendly smile and entered through the door.

After another ten minutes (gods, was it always this slow?!), they finally got to the desk to meet a woman in a blue police uniform sitting behind the glass. She smiled cheerfully at them. "Good afternoon. How can I help you?"

"Hi," Annabeth smiled back. "We're here because our friend was taken away earlier today. I believe he was brought here for questioning."

The woman behind the desk brushed her side-bangs behind her ear. "What's his name?"

"Leo Valdez."

The officer grabbed the mouse and scrolled through the documents. "Yes. He's here."

Annabeth leaned forward a little as if trying to see what the computer said. "Do you think we could see him?"

She made a sympathetic look and shook her head. "I'm sorry. Officer Rowel has him in for questioning like you mentioned. He is not to be interfered."

The group looked at each other.

"If you want, you can sit and wait on those chair until I get word if he's able to talk with you."

Calypso and the rest turned around to see six chairs lined up against the wall beside the door with a magazine table in the middle.

She felt herself groan inwardly. After experience in the modern world already, she knew that those chairs meant you would be sitting there for a very long time. How she knew this? She went with Leo to check out an infected cut on her arm over in a Texas walk-in clinic. They didn't have any ambrosia or nectar at the moment, so they were dammed to wait like any normal mortal would.

Looking back at the officer again, Calypso winced. "How long do you think that will be?"

The brunette woman shook her head with pressed lips. "Depends on how long your friend's questioning session will take. Until then, I'm afraid you're going to have to wait."

She wanted to fight back, but before she got the chance to do so, Annabeth nodded and thanked her. That left them with no other choice but to wait on those darned chairs. Why couldn't they just use Piper's charmspeak to get in? Unfortunately, she knew the reason why. _"It just didn't work that way"_. Piper stressed that more than needed. It had something to do with not being fair with mortals. Calypso didn't give a damn.

Reluctantly, the five of them sat impatiently on the chairs already counting the seconds until they had the chance to see their friend. Even Percy began tapping a rhythm on his knee the way Leo always did. His own ADHD was getting in the way.

"I wonder what's happening for him right now," Percy thought out loud.

"I hope something good," Piper said. "Once I get my hands on those officers who decided to take him away like that..."

Her boyfriend looked at her funny. "Are you, Piper McLean, threatening them?"

"And you aren't?! He's our best friend!"

"Hey, I didn't mean it like that. You didn't let me finish my sentence. What I was trying to say," he went on, " is that if you are, I'll be there to back you up. They had no right to bud in."

Their conversations continued in the same manner until Calypso felt as if she was stuck listening to a broken record (and yes, she knew what that was).

Ten minutes later though, they all turned their heads in the direction of one of the doors beside the reception desk. It opened and everyone immediately jumped to their feet.

Walking out from the hallway that the door led to, was the same man with the slicked back hair that had been keen on watching them in the line. Though he still had the briefcase in his hand, the other now held onto the shoulder of a short Latino who looked more than miserable. His eyes were pasted on the floor as he was led in a defeated manner, so he didn't see his friends all standing there by the door for him.

Calypso was the one to call to him first. "Leo!" she said as she ran up to him. The others followed, echoing his name.

Startled, Leo looked up at her and the others directly behind. "Calypso... Jason..."

As his girlfriend, she quickly wrapped him in a hug and kissed his cheek. "What's going on? Who is this?" she asked motioning to the man holding Leo's shoulder.

That caused a dark shadow to appear on her boyfriend's face. The usual gleam in his eyes dimmed and his mouth stayed turned down. "He's uh... Mr. Ryan -"

"- Matthews," the business man interrupted offering his hand that had been previously on Leo's shoulder. "Ryan Matthews."

Percy gript his hand with suspicion. "Jackson," he replied.

As the handshaking continuing in a domino effect, exchanging names, Mr. Ryan Matthews grinned kindly at all of them, but Calypso noticed how much of a glare he received from Leo. It was like he was throwing daggers at the guy his gaze was so sharp.

"So, Mr. Matthews," Annabeth suddenly said. "What exactly is your occupation? Where's Leo going?"

The man simply looked at the unusually quiet boy on his side with a surprisingly sympathetic expression. After a second or two, he returned his attention back to the group standing before him. "I'm his social worker. I'll be helping your friend get settled into a safe and loving home."

Everyone glanced at Leo in shock for some kind of answer because surely this wasn't real, but he kept his death gaze on the well-dressed man holding onto his shoulder once again.

"I take it you are all his friends?" Mr. Matthews asked pleasantly as if the boy beside him wasn't even there.

"Yes. We're like his family," Calypso answered, nearly spitting at him. If Leo hated him, she hated him just as much. He'd told her some of the things he had to go through in those homes, and she was not pleased. And they think they have to audacity to take him away like that? What was wrong with them? Couldn't they understand how much he's been through already?

Her mildly spiteful statement made his brows furrow slightly but it quickly disappeared. "I see, I see. Oh, speaking of that, I'm afraid we're going to have to head out. We have further business to take care of and would rather we get it done sooner than later. It was nice meeting all of you though," he smiled and began leading Leo away with him.

Leo looked back at them desperately and gave them an anxious look. He mouthed _H_ _elp me!_ before the two of them made it out the doors.

As soon as they were out of ears shot, Calypso turned to the others with determination. "We have to help him. We have to do something."

"Agreed," Piper said with the same will.

"But... how?" Jason questioned. "I mean, we can't just go against the law and kidnap him back. That could get _us_ arrested."

"That's why we get Chiron to create some legal papers," Annabeth declared. "Once we tell him the situation, he can set to work with my help to get something worked out. Then all he has to do is show up and claim him. He'll be made Leo's official guardian and there won't be any reason for Leo to be taken away again."

Percy grabbed her face and pulled her in for a kiss on the lips. "And that's why I love you so much!"

She lifted an eyebrow. "Because I'm smart?"

"Yeah!" he answered as if he was serious. Annabeth, Piper, and Calypso all shared a look.

"Come on, seaweed brain," she uttered. "We need to get back to camp."

* * *

 **Another short chapter. Honestly, though, I'm not happy with this one. I had such bad writers block and wanted to end it a little sooner than what I usually do. I apologize if it went really fast for you guys or if it lacked things. I tried my best with what I had left of my brain. I'll try to make the next one better.  
**

 **As usual, reviewing would be great! ;P It keeps my writing mood up. Otherwise, I don't know what you guys are thinking about it, so updating might take longer. Share your thoughts and opinions with me if you can! I seriously want to know if you are enjoying this or not. :)**

 **Anyway, next on my updating schedule is _Someday (a fanfiction of Leo Valdez's future)_** **That's that pattern I try to work with now that I have two stories. It goes back and forth.  
**

 **This will be updated after my other story. Hold tight! ;D**

 **~supworld~**


	4. Welcome Home

**I NOW HAVE A NEW POLL QUESTION ON MY PROFILE PAGE ABOUT WHAT STORY I SHOULD WRITE NEXT! I CAN'T WAIT TO SEE WHAT YOU'LL PICK! I want to get started on it soon, so...**

 **So this is the fourth chapter! You get to see what happens on Leo's side again!**

goldenlynx16: **Thank you so much for letting me know about the title change for my other story! I totally didn't even see that option before! It is now officially changed to _Someday_! Yay! Also, I hate Officer Rowel as well, but you know; had to make it sound like he was serious about his job. And yes, I'm fully aware this story is following the same plot as Myra109's story, but in my defense, I actually had this idea _long_ before I ever read her _Mother Teresa_ fanfic or any other fanfic for that matter. I am fairly new to this site. So, be aware that this story might have few similarities but it won't actually be the same. The beginning is more like _Mother Teresa_ I guess, but that's pretty much it. As for how his new foster parent(s) will be... Nope. Not gonna say. Just read the chapter. :)**

 **Hey,** 7halfbloods: **You are probably mad at me for taking so long to update again, but I have been incredibly busy lately and have had next to no time to write anything. I'm so glad you are reading my other story as well! :D I've been working on that one for longer and am just now introducing the huge plot. I updated it. Enjoy!**

Panemat: **Thanks. :) I'm excited to share with you the rest of the story.**

 **The reviews are done and it's time to move on! Thank you for being so patient with me guys! Again, as mentioned above, I have been SUPER busy and will probably be so for a while. I do have a life outside of this. :)**

 **Again, I have NO IDEA how all** **this social serves stuff** **works, so I'm jumping ahead and bringing you to the next interesting part. Here we go!**

 **I apologize for any mistakes in grammar or spelling.**

 **WARNINGS:** **MILD SWEARING**

 **SHOUT OUT!  
Because I want to avoid getting reported, I will continue to admit that I do not own the Seven. I own Ryan Matthews (Mr. Matthews) and the surprise OC. Find out who below!  
**

* * *

 **~Leo's POV~**

It was raining.

How suitable for Leo's mood.

With the dark clouds that had come along rather sporadic, throwing the odd lightning bolt here and there, it mirrored his very mindset. The thunder represented the dark fall into his all too familiar depression and the lighting, his sudden flashes of anger. The only thing that would potentially change in similarities would be the end of the storm when a rainbow would appear in the sky. For him, the outcome seemed far less joyful.

He couldn't believe Officer Rowel actually defeated him! How could he have let that happen? Heck, the problem could've been avoided - or rather delayed - simply if he had run out before anything could happen! Stupid! Leo could easily blame his lack of natural instincts from his time at Camp Half-Blood, but there was no use in doing that anymore. It was too late. He was on his way to another foster home and there wasn't anything that could stop it.

"I'm sure you'll enjoy the neighborhood," Mr. Matthews blabbed on, coming onto the main drag towards Yonkers, NY. "It's a quieter part of the city, away from the busy downtown area, though it's still close enough to walk to different businesses. There's even a nice walking park near the house."

Leo rolled his eyes and rested his head against the headrest while he continued to stare out the window. As if he cared about stupid walking parks let alone what kind of neighborhood this person's house is located. It wouldn't change his situation any.

Mr. Matthews merged and accelerated into the fast lane. The rain pounded against the windshield at a quicker rate and the wipers swished back and forth.

"You won't be very far from Manhattan so you can visit your friends easily," he offered with a side glance. "I know you would probably like that."

Leo didn't answer.

With a sigh, he tapped his fingers on the steering wheel and pressed his lips. From the wordless few seconds, Leo could almost hear his thoughts filling the car.

Finally, Mr. Matthews clicked his tongue. "Look, kid. I know what you're feeling right now, okay? None of this is easy for either one of us. My job is to help you and other kids in your position find a safe home. Yours is to try to accept it and open the doors to possibility. Believe it or not, finding a home for someone can get quite difficult, especially when working with certain kids that have had delicate pasts. It's hard on you guys too, and I see it almost every day. The System - or whatever you like calling it - isn't out to make a person's life miserable. It's to help them find the right direction in life - to find a loving family who want to take them in. You can't possibly think it's only there to ruin someone, do you? It gives a person a chance at a happy life."

Okay, how can Leo stay quiet after _that_ little 'speech'?

"You say you understand how I feel about this? You say it's hard on you? Well, you know, maybe it is, but let me tell you something," Leo spat. "You have no _idea_ what it's like to be in the kids' position. Some kids are naive enough to believe the System is there for them. Others, like myself, realize it's only there to provide people with jobs so they can get paid. We are never given the kind of home you social workers believe we get from our makeshift 'parents'. Honestly, I sometimes wonder if it's all set up."

"What do you mean? We worked very hard to find you a good home. If it isn't, we take you out. Why would we purposely hand you to someone who wasn't fitting to take care of you?"

Leo tried to hide his sneer but undoubtedly failed by the way his social worker looked at him. He wasn't about to spill his guts to this random stranger. He wouldn't even do it to his friends. There was way too much of a backstory to explain and that was the area of his life he stayed away from as much as possible.

"Hmm?" Mr. Matthews pressed on. "If you are so concerned we social workers don't know what we are doing, I can assure you we've found hundreds of children good homes throughout the years. It isn't about a job search as you put it, but rather the recognition of unfortunate children in need of a good home. That, itself, sets up the job."

"And how do you know the homes you choose for these 'unfortunate children' are any _good_?" Leo retorted. "People deceive. They lie right to your faces and you guys are too stupid to even realize it."

Maybe it was at little rude for him to say that, but at this point, he didn't care anymore. He could just learn to deal with it.

Mr. Matthews pressed his brakes slightly as he came up to heavy bumper-to-bumper traffic. Gradually, it became slow enough that he was forced to stop, so he took this moment to look over at Leo. "If I tell you more about your new foster home, will it open yours eyes a little more?"

For what felt like the millionth time, he rolled his eyes at his agent and turned his head away from him.

Mr. Matthews took advantage of the silence. "Mrs. Alice Hammel is a wonderful woman, Leo. You'll like her a lot. She helps out with lots of charities and different organizations - always willing to take part in various groups. She's very involved in the community."

Oh, a goody-two-shoes. Fantastic. As if Leo hadn't come across others like that before. The outcome from all those homes came out the same. He either ran away, or they got sick and tired of his imperfections, so they simply passed him on to the next family.

He couldn't wait.

"Most of the time," his social worker continued, "she works part time as a nurse in the hospital. She's a retired nurse actually and likes to keep busy since she's been widowed for over four years now.

"Anyway, she's always very cheerful and positive. She'll be a great influence on you and might even teach you a bit about respect."

"What, she'll put me in Sunday School?" Leo retorted. "I've got no intention in attending."

"If that's what it takes for you to become respectable, she might. Really, it's up to her to decide how or if she even wants to train you that way, but you shouldn't treat her poorly, Leo. She's been through a lot lately."

He snorted and watched as the raindrops hit the windshield. "Haven't we all...?"

"Listen," Mr. Matthews snapped back. "We all have problems. Yes. It's true, but we don't have to treat people in a bad way because of it. Mrs. Hammel really is a great woman and has only the best intention for you. Don't judge the woman before you meet her."

The traffic began moving again and they gradually picked up speed once more.

Leo stared at the passing buildings and kept his mouth shut. There was _no way_ anyone could understand what he had been through, and there was a high possibility no one ever will. How could they? Without living it, you can't wholly understand it. Therefore, in varies cases, what a person believes is true without living it, is a lie in itself. How does a person explain that others just don't know what it's like without sounding ignorant or childlike? It wasn't very convincing coming from a teenager.

"Anyway," the dark-haired man continued. "You'll be checked up on every few months, so I'll know if you're causing trouble or not. It's best to behave. Give it a chance. You will find you'll fit in faster that way."

Leo wanted to laugh at this guy's ignorance. He just proved Leo's point right!

 _It's best to behave? You'll fit in better?_ Really?

He hid his smirk the best he could and remained silent the rest of the trip

* * *

Mr. Matthews turned off into a quieter neighborhood where the houses were more aged (but not in a bad way) and the streets were canopied by numerous trees, offering protection from the rain somewhat like a giant umbrella.

Leo could see why his social worker thought he might like the neighborhood. It was comfortable and well-lived. Each house was of a smaller size, yet cozy in each their own way. Most were white in color or light shades of grey or brown. One was green - which looked horrid - and some were dusty blue. Numerous cars took up driveways or curbs, showing how used this part of the city was.

It was obvious that this was a neighborhood filled with families. Many of the lawns had either toys scattered around or there was chalk scribbled on the sidewalks leading up to the front door, slowly being washed away from the constant rain sneaking through the branches. There was even a tire swing in one of the trees.

Some of the neater homes had well-kept gardens under their large living room windows, signifying the occupants of devoted gardeners. They could easily belong to an elderly group of people who've had families grown up and moved away. They were probably the kind that drink tea all day while they pet their cats.

Other than that, the neighborhood did look sorta nice. He just hoped he wasn't the only teenager.

Mr. Matthews slowed the car and searched the house numbers through the windshield wipers. "Her house is number 76," he murmured just loud enough to make out. "I believe it's on the left hand side. It has the small porch on the front."

Then it hit him.

All that was needed was for Mr. Matthews to describe what Mrs. Hammel's house looked like for Leo's heart to randomly decide to run laps inside his chest.

Oh gods...

Oh gods...

Oh

My

Freaking

Gods...

It hadn't really caught up to him until now.

Leo was going back into foster care! Until the day he was eighteen, he was going to be stuck living with a total stranger! Again! He would have to wait two whole _years_ to be free of this miserable nightmare! How was he supposed to do this again?! He'd barely survived last time! This couldn't be happening!

Ignoring Mr. Matthews mumbling about which house it was, Leo forced himself to focus on breathing.

In... out... in... out... in... out.

He honestly felt like his chest would explode. To try to distract himself from having a panic attack, Leo attempted to look out at all the different houses, but as he did, his mind would turn back to his panicked state. All that ran through his mind was the fact that he could very easily be stuck living in one of these very homes for around 730 days of his short demigod life. He'd be coming back to one of these houses from whatever school he would be enrolled in, to call it "home" until he was set free. House arrest. That's what it would feel like.

And then there was Mrs. Hammel.

He had no idea what to expect from her. From what he knew from past experiences, she could either be an honestly sweet person that would eventually get sick and tired of having to put up with him, or a horribly cruel person. Really though, they were close to the same thing in his eyes. No regular human being would actually treat a foster kid that way. No _sane_ human being anyway.

"Oh, there it is," Mr. Matthews suddenly said and slowly rode up onto the driveway of one of the larger houses. There was a brick sidewalk with flowers and pebbles on either side that led up to the small white porch where a dark blue door was shut tight to keep the rain out. A small rocking chair was placed in the corner of the porch with a table. Above the table was a sign that read: HOME IS WHERE THE HEART IS.

Pft...

On the front lawn was a tree and right below the large window of the house, was a well-managed garden.

Oh boy.

Bringing the car to a stop in front of the white garage door, he killed then engine and got out, but not without his umbrella.

Leo stayed in his seat as Mr. Matthews made it over to the passenger door and opened it.

"Come on, Leo," he encouraged over the pitter-patter of the raindrops hitting the umbrella. "She's waiting for us."

He didn't budge. He couldn't. Not unless he wanted to puke all over the inside of the man's car. Leo's stomach felt weaker than it had been only moments earlier. If he moved, he was afraid of losing his lunch and that would have been hightly embarrassing. Instead, he resorted to gripping his backpack tightly in his hands and refusing to look up at the man.

"Leo?" Mr. Matthews repeated. "Come on."

He knew he must look like a two-year-old throwing a tantrum, but he decided he didn't care. "No. I'm not going in."

"Well you can't sit in my car all day. You're going to have to get out eventually."

Again, he shook his head.

Clearly, Mr. Matthews was used to children pulling this stunt, but it was rare when they reached teen years. Therefore, it left the social worker looking somewhat confused. "Look, you can fight back as much as you want, but we're already here. I'm not taking you back. Either you get up and come with me into the house, or I'll drag you in, but you will not make Mrs. Hammel wait, you hear? She was kind enough to offer to take you, now show her some respect and get out of the damn car!"

"Please, Mr. Matthews," Leo said shakily, daring to look up at him. "Don't make me. I'm begging you. Don't make me go into that house."

His face softened a bit, understanding his intense fear, but he was still persistent on forcing him. "Leo, I'm aware you've have bad experiences in the past, but give it a chance, hmm? This isn't the past. This is now. Mrs. Hammel is different from the others. I promise."

Leo quickly turned his gaze away from him again.

That's what they all said, but in the end, it was always a lie.

Leo hated Mrs. Hammel. He didn't care what his social worker told him and he sure the hell didn't care what this woman offered. He hated her— _despised_ her in fact. Did they seriously think they could do this to him again? Did they actually believe that after all he's been through he was all of a sudden going to be okay with this? If they did, they were wrong. There was nothing in this world going to convince him that she was a good woman. He'd placed his trust in that kind of false hope too many times only to have it crushed brutally underfoot repeatedly until it left him broken and bruised.

"I'm not going inside that house," he repeated in a stronger tone.

Mr. Matthews sighed with silent frustration. "So, I guess I'll have to drag you in, won't I? You know, it's rare I have to use physical force to -"

"Are you Ryan Matthews?" came a woman's voice. "I saw you pull up into my driveway and thought I'd check."

Both Leo and Mr. Matthews turned their heads to see a woman bundled up in a long, blue, knit sweater, tan pants, and blond hair pulled up in a clip, standing on the porch protecting herself from the rain. She must have been around her early to mid-fifties if Leo had to guess.

"Yes, I am," his social worker grinned at her in a friendly manner. "You must be Mrs. Alice Hammel. How are you?"

She nodded with a smile of her own. "Yes, I'm fine. Do you by any chance have Leo Valdez with you? I can see another person in the car."

"I do," Mr. Matthews declared before he turned and gave Leo a pointed look. "He was just collecting his things before making his way to the door."

He glared at his social worker, but took the hint. Slowly, he brought his feet onto the pavement and stood under the umbrella with Mr. Matthews. The backpack with his belongings inside was clutched closely to his chest as if it would serve him some kind of protection from this stranger. This was an all too familiar stance he'd once found himself standing in for every new home all those years ago.

"Is that all you have, my dear boy?" Mrs. Hammel asked with mild surprise.

Leo nodded.

"Oh, well, then come on inside before you catch a cold! It's raining buckets out there! Come, come!" she exclaimed waving him in and he and Mr. Matthews trudged up to the porch.

The umbrella was collapsed as they stepped under the overhang of the roof and brought inside.

The doorway was smaller due to two sets of stairs; the one on the right going up, the ones on the left going down to the basement. Above them, to the right, was a wooden rail outlining the edge of the living room. The flooring was a light hardwood to match the grey walls and white baseboards, giving a very modern look despite the outside. A closet for coats was on their left as well as a door to the garage.

Leo was suddenly ten years old again, being brought to one of many foster homes. Everything in his insides disagreed with him as he stood nervously at the entrance way. This moment would've been when a few other children came running to the door to meet their new brother. They would introduce one another and then the parents would bring out the rules, listing each one off on their fingers. After that was all done, he would be given a tour of the house, where he would secretly make notes on the best places to hide or use as a way to sneak out. Several times, it had come handy and he was always glad he did it. Finally, he would be left alone in his new room to settle down.

"Sweetie?" a voice suddenly snapped him out of his daydream.

With a blink, Leo turned to Mrs. Hammel. "What?"

Kindly, she smiled at him. "I was just asking if you didn't mind taking your shoes off. With no shoes in the house, the less lazy I look when it comes to my floors," she chuckled. "You see I just never get around to cleaning them."

"Oh, sorry," he muttered and slipped his sneakers off onto the mat by the door.

"I'll just keep mine on," Mr. Matthews said. "I'll be heading out right away here. I just have a couple things to let you know about."

"Of course," Mrs. Hammel nodded.

"Uh... first things first, Leo has medication for his ADHD in with his stuff that he takes every morning, as you already know. You can just get refills at the nearest pharmacy. You have the paperwork and whatnot for him, so there won't be any problem with that," Mr. Matthew told her. "Also, just as a reminder because I know we discussed this while dealing with the paperwork, he has a mild allergy to cream of mushroom soup, but just the soup. Mushrooms he's fine with. It's really nothing big though, just hives."

"Yes," she nodded again. "Thank you for reminding me."

He glanced at Leo and pressed his lips together. "So... I think we have everything settled. You have your things, you're here, and the legal work is complete. Alright, I'm off." Offering his hand to Mrs. Hammel, she took it and shook hands.

"Thank you so much, Mr. Matthews," she said.

"No problem."

Leo's heart began racing again at the thought of him leaving. He knew it would mean he would officially be alone with this woman. As much as he hated the guy, he secretly wished Mr. Matthews would drag him along with him.

"And you'll be fine, okay?" Mr. Matthews told Leo with a assuring hand on his shoulder. "I'll be back in a few months to check up on things."

He stared at the man and shook his head. "Don't leave me here," he whispered hoarsely. " _Please_ don't leave me here."

The hand on his shoulder squeezed a little. "Don't worry. Everything will work out. You have my word."

"No," Leo mouthed again. "Don't do this. _Don't leave me_."

Mr. Matthews only took his hand away again and smiled sympathetically at him. "Goodbye, Leo. I'll see you in a few months."

With that, the man said another friendly goodbye to Leo's new foster mom and opened the door.

Leo stood silently in the entrance way, watching him drive off and feeling betrayed by the only person who could have stopped this. Now he was on his own.

Mrs. Hammel cleared her throat, obviously wanting to break the uncomfortable silence he was creating.

He faced her.

"If you want," she said sweetly, "I can show you to your room so you can get settled, and then after you can come up and join me for some hot chocolate. It's a little chilly out there and something warm might do us both some good."

With a small upturn of his mouth, he tried for a smile but didn't quite get there. "I think I would just like to go to my room, if that's okay."

"For sure, but just remember, the hot chocolate still stands. It's always a nice turn-to."

"Sure," he muttered.

"It's this way to your room," Mrs. Hammel declared as she politely passed him to head downstairs and he followed her.

The basement was a larger size. The floor had a comfortable grey carpet leading to a open area. On the wall directly across from the stairs they came down, was a huge flat screen TV with a big brown couch facing it. Placed before it was a coffee table filled with magazines and a plate with decorative candles.

To the right of the room, were three doors, while to the left, there were two, totaling five in all. Most of them were closed, however, the one on the right, closest to the stairs, was open. Mrs. Hammel made her way to it and pushed the door open even more so they could walk in and turn the light on.

Leo almost let his jaw drop.

For having a house in an older neighborhood, this room was highly unexpected. It was huge!

The first thing Leo laid his eyes on was the Queen-sized bed sitting directly under a window with a grey and white striped bed cover. On the left of it, was a desk with an old-styled office chair, and on the left of that, was the double-door closet. Sitting on a wooden dresser on the wall opposite of the bed, was another TV, though this one was didn't hang on the wall. If Leo wasn't so upset about being here, he would've thought that having a TV in his room was wicked cool, but alas, he was here against his will.

Beside the dresser, tucked into the corner of the room, was a tall bookshelf that was filled with books, movies, video games, video game figurines, and boxes filled with other treasures he didn't dare look through. Directly across from that bookshelf to the other corner of the room, was another identical shelf with the same kinds of things taking up space.

The coolest part of the room though, was the door placed in between both bookshelves. Inside, Leo raised his eyebrow to find his very own bathroom, complete with a shower and everything!

"Do you like it?" his new foster mom asked from behind him. "I know having a bathroom in a basement bedroom isn't normal, but I actually had a basement suite down here at one point. My late husband and I decided to take the kitchen out and keep this bedroom as it was. I've used this room specifically for guests because of the bathroom as you can imagine. It's yours now, if you like it."

"It's fine," Leo murmured but really what he was thinking was _Seriously, lady?! You probably gave me one of the biggest rooms in the house with a bathroom attached and everything, and you are still asking if it's okay?!_ _Damn, woman! I even got my own TV!_

"Oh, that's good," she sighed with relief and that was the moment Leo realized she was nervous too.

 _Why?_ he wondered. There wasn't anything for her to be anxious about.

She clapped her hands together suddenly and smiled once again. "Well, I'll let you get settled then. I eat supper at five, so if you would like to come up, feel free. I'm making a casserole."

Setting his backpack on the bed, he unzipped it, trying to give her the impression he wasn't in the mood to talk. "Sure."

Studying him for a minute in the doorway, she nodded. "Okay. See you then," Mrs. Hammel said and left him to himself.

As soon as she was upstairs, Leo ignored his bag and flopped on his back beside it, letting out a long sigh while he stared at the ceiling.

How the hell did he get here?

* * *

 **I'm actually really happy with the way this one turned out! :D The first half was killer writer's block, but once I got going, it was hard to stop!**

 **So now you know the new OC! Mrs. Alice Hammel! What do you think of her? Do you think she'll be good for Leo? Or do you think she'll have something up her sleeve? Make sure to review and tell me!**

 **I know updating this story is really hard, as is the other, but I will try to update as much as I can. Hold on, my dear readers! Updates will come!**

 **Keep a look out for chapter five!**

 **~supworld~**


	5. Settling In

Sameol: **:)**

goldenlynx16: **Isn't that the first reaction we all have towards her? Kind of hard not to whenever a new foster parent comes into the picture. ;D After Leo's experiences with those darn foster homes, it would probably take a miracle to find someone good. Cross you fingers and hope for the best, because this will be a chapter all about Leo trying to settle in. :)**

7halfbloods: **Thank you so much! Again, you can never tell what these foster parents have in store for those foster children... or at least** **for Leo** **. He has pretty bad luck when it comes to these things. Because Mrs. Hammel is a new character, you should probably keep an eye on her as the story goes. :)**

 **This is the part in the author's note when I talk about useless, boring things that no one cares about. Therefore, I'll save you the pain of putting up with any more jibber-jabber and get on with the story... except for one thing. There's an assignment for you guys to do at the end of this chapter! Nothing related to school, I promise, but rather something you'll hopefully enjoy! Read to find out!  
**

 **Sorry for any mistakes in spelling or grammar.**

 **WARNINGS:** **  
**

 **SHOUT OUT!  
Mrs. Hammel is my creation. No other (except Mr. Ryan Matthews but he's not here).**

* * *

 **~Leo's POV~**

Leo lay in bed in the early morning, all tucked under his array of blankets, dreading the thought of getting up. Thankfully, he didn't hear any commotion happening upstairs, which probably meant Mrs. Hammel was still sleeping. As long as she was still enjoying her beauty rest, Leo planned on staying under the covers until the last possible minute. He wasn't about to get up the minute he woke in this strange atmosphere, and by all means, if he could stay here all day, he was fully prepared to do so.

Looking at the clock on his bedside table, he saw that it read 6:33 AM. He groaned and flopped onto his back.

You see, he hadn't had a very good sleep, and it wasn't only because he was in a foreign place, though that was a huge part of it. Who could sleep knowing you were practically owned by another human being? It was kind of sad when you started comparing yourself to a dog - and yes, Leo was actually thinking of it that way. He was like a stray wandering from town to town only to get picked up by the pound. Every once in a while, he would be brought into a home only to get abused some more, resulting to living back on the streets so another pound could torture him in the same manner. He was sick of it.

The other reason he hadn't slept well was because of his natural functions. For some odd reason, his body didn't like staying asleep. It would take a couple hours for him to fall into slumber, however, give him a couple hours more, and he would wake up. Wait an additional two hours, and he would fall back to sleep again. That was his sleep pattern. Most times, he forced himself to stay in bed and tough it out, but because of his ADHD, it was difficult to stay confined in one spot all the time. During some of those impatient moments, Leo would get up and work on another one of his projects while his siblings were fast asleep. He couldn't do that here though.

So, having no other choice, he lay still and looked around at his surroundings lazily.

The room was dark despite the specks of rising sun peaking through the small gaps between his blinds, resulting in thin lines of light on the opposite wall. The TV directly across from him offered a faint reflection of the bed and window, but mostly, it's face was dark like the rest of the place. The items on the shelves were merely silhouettes, the video game figurines standing like shadows from heroic characters.

It kind of confused Leo as to why a woman like Mrs. Hammel would have so many video games and figurines to go with them. She was in her early fifties at least. They wouldn't have been around during her childhood, so there would be no reason why she even had them. The only explanation he had was that her late husband used to play them, but even that seemed unlikely.

Then a thought came to him that chilled his very bones.

Had Mrs. Hammel housed other foster kids before him? Was this the room she locked them up in, their only entertainment the TV? Maybe that's why she kept the bathroom connected to this unusually large bedroom. She wanted to make sure it looked like an appealing place to hang out just so she could live her life without them ever complaining about being locked up. And, if he remembered right, she had mentioned she had used this very room as a guest room. What did she really mean by "guest"?

No! Stop it! Don't start thinking like that!

But really, if that was the case, wouldn't knowing what he was getting into prepare him for whatever was coming? All those other times, he was small and naive. He let the false hope that one day a good home would come, abide in him. He was younger then, but it didn't mean he was any less scared at the present.

How did he know he could trust Mrs. Hammel? What if she turned out to be like all the rest? What if after only a few short weeks, she got tired of him or learned about his bad habits? Would she get frustrated with his hyperactive behavior because he was ADHD? What if she got stressed with her job and took it out on him like Miss Teresa used to do?

These questions ran through his mind at a rapid pace while he laid there, causing him to grow more anxious. He hadn't been in this kind of position in years and hadn't left his foster homes on good terms because of the physical, mental, and so many other types of abuse. He wasn't sure he could handle it anymore. He was scared of the abuse, and he was scared of her.

Maybe it was silly to be so scared- _petrified_ even - of Mrs. Hammel after seeing how nice she seemed. Last night, he had reluctantly joined her for supper due to his grumbling stomach, and she seemed cheery and hospitable enough. Of course though, yesterday was only the first day. There were so many other chances she could have to torture him and ruin his life. Usually, at the very most, it will take a few weeks to shine through. Even some of his earlier foster parents got sick of him within that time, and they seemed really nice at the start.

Don't trust her. That was his number one rule. It didn't matter how nice she seemed, just don't trust her.

Still tossing and turning, Leo glanced at the clock again.

6:36 AM

Ugh. If he was going to lay here all day, it was going to feel like forever.

Suddenly, Leo had an idea pop into his head that made him relax somewhat.

His friends had seen him being taken away. They knew - to some degree at least - what his thoughts were about all of this. If he could contact them, there was a possibility they could set up a plan to get him out of here! Annabeth was good with her brain and Piper, her voice. With the help of Chiron or another adult figure, he could claim Leo and take him back and it would be like nothing happened! Leo would be safe at camp with no worry of being taken away again! He would forever be known as Chiron's foster kid and it would be legit!

Pushing the blankets off of him, he climbed out of bed and grabbed his backpack from off the desk chair. He unzipped it and dug his hand in, fishing for a specific item.

"Come on, come on," he muttered to himself. "Where is it?"

Eventually, he felt a buckle and then a pouch all twisted up against the side of the bag. He grinned and pulled it out.

"Bingo! My tool belt!"

Reaching into one of the small pockets, he brought out a handful of drachmas. He always carried them around in case he needed to make an emergency call.

This was considered an emergency.

Closing himself in his bathroom, he made sure to lock it and walked up to the sink. The tap made a creak as he turned it on and a trickle of water drizzled down.

Fingering the drachma in hand, he whispered, "O Fleecy, do me a solid. Show me Annabeth Chase at Camp Half-Blood."

He tossed the coin in and watched as it materialized into the cloudy mist appearing eye level to him.

As it formed, Leo could make out a single bunk from one of the cabins at camp. It was one he had never really seen before, but then again, when would he have time, or the need, to have a look inside the Athena cabin?

Curled up in bed, Annabeth lay fast asleep with her arms spread out around her pillow and he hair falling out of her ponytail. Her golden locks were in serious need of a brushing or something 'cause they were everywhere.

If she was the only one asleep, he would gladly yell at her at the top of his lungs to wake her. However, knowing the whole Athena gang was present, he resorted to a whisper.

"Annabeth," he hissed.

No response.

"Annabeth? Yoohoo. Leo speaking. You dead?"

She stirred a bit and mumbled something in her sleep. It sounded like she was talking about feta cheese and raspberry milkshakes... yeeeeeaaaahhh...

"Look, brainy, I'm trying to get your attention here. Are you alive or what?"

That received a groan and an eye flutter from the oh-so-stunning bedhead as she slowly propped herself up on her elbow. "W-whaa?"

"Alright!" he whispered. "She lives!"

"Percy?" she asked with blurry eyes. "What are you doing here? Chiron will kill you."

"Nah, I don't think that's possible. I'm not Percy. And if Chiron wanted to kill me, he'd have to travel to Yonkers, NY to do so."

He almost laughed at the look she gave him. "Who _is_ this? Where are... Oh. Leo? Is that you?" she managed to ask with her groggy voice. Annabeth had finally located the Iris message and was now looking him directly in the eyes.

"At your service."

"What's wrong? What happened? Why are you calling me?"

"You know why I'm calling - or at least you _should_. I need out of here."

Her eyebrows furrowed with worry. "Did... did something happen, Leo?"

"Annabeth, I got pulled back into the System, that's what happened. I need a way out."

"Oh. Yeah. We've already been making plans for that here on our end. I suggested making legal papers to get you handed down to Chiron as his foster kid."

"Really?" His excitement levels were raised even more. He knew Annabeth would be on the same page as him! "When will they be finished? How soon can you get me out?"

She yawned. "Well, since you were taken, everyone here has been scrambling left and right in order to get the documents ready. Mainly, I'm helping Chiron with them whenever he has free time. When he's unavailable, I've planned on getting Jason and Piper to help me, but it's..." she sighed and rubbed her face. "It's tough to arrange. The two of them are heading back to California for the winter and I'll be heading out as well as Percy. That will leave Chiron alone to put the papers together and he will still have year-round campers to keep in order."

Remember the excitement Leo was feeling only seconds ago?

Yeah.

It completely deflated.

"O-oh..." he mumbled. "So... what then?"

"Well, as I was trying to say," Annabeth offered, "we are all in a rush to get the documents done, but it's a ton of work. We're trying our hardest to get as much as we can done though, Leo. We want you back with us."

He smirked half-heartedly. "Me too. So how long do you think this will take at the very most then?"

There was a pause in conversation as she calculated in her head. Looking to the side as she bit her lip, she squinted and turned back to him. "I think the longest will probably be around a few months because of the lack of campers during the school year, but we would try to avoid that long of a wait as much as possible."

"A few _months?!_ " he nearly shouted, panic riding through his veins.

"Shhh!" she hushed. "I said we are trying to avoid that!"

"Then tell me the soonest. I can't wait that long."

"At the very earliest - maybe a couple weeks."

Okay, so that was significantly shorter than a few months, however, it was still a rather long wait for this impatient demigod.

"I know," Annabeth said, reading his mind. "It's still a wait, but you'll have to be patient. In the meantime, just lie low and hold tight. Please don't make anything more complicated by running away or something."

He sighed.

"Do I have your word?" she pressed.

He waited a second or two before nodding slightly. "Yeah. You have my word."

"Good."

"Quick question though," he said, changing topic. "How's Calypso?"

Annabeth pressed her lips together in a attempt to smile. "I'll admit, she's been better, but she handling it fairly well. She probably has the greatest determination to get you home safely out of the whole gang. Piper and Jason are almost just as determined."

Despite the situation, Leo grinned faintly. It felt great knowing he had such awesome friends. "That's good. I think I'll have to give her a call too. You know... to keep her spirits up."

"I'm sure she'd appreciate that," she said with a knowing look. "Now it's my turn to change the topic. Where are you located again? I missed that part."

"Yonkers, NY. A lady named Mrs. Alice Hammel has me housed here."

"She nice?"

With a face, he shrugged and weighed his hands on either side of him. "So, so. Seems to be, but..."

"But what?"

Memories of his past flooded through his mind, literally giving him goosebumps. "N-never mind. No, she's fine. Just don't waste your time getting here."

Annabeth nodded. "We're trying, Leo. Don't worry."

After watching her yawn another time, he smiled, taking the hint. "Okay, brainy. Get some sleep while you still can. I just wanted to check in and see what the plans are."

"They're on their way. You get some sleep too, repair boy. You look exhausted."

"Yeah, yeah. Talk to you later," and he swiped his hand through the message and sighed.

Two weeks. Gods, he hoped he wouldn't have to wait longer then that.

* * *

At quarter after seven, Leo couldn't take it anymore.

After laying in bed again, this time completely awake, he finally heard footsteps walking quietly upstairs. The floorboards creaked softly as Mrs. Hammel moved about, showing the comfortable aging this home has gone through over the years. It was a sound he was going to have to get used to if he was to stay for a possible two weeks.

He honestly hated himself for breaking his plans for the day, but he pushed his covers to the side and pulled out an outfit from his pack to get changed. He was impatient and starved and so ready to be out of that bed. There was no possible way he could handle hiding under the covers for that long. His ADHD always won in the end and he truly hated it.

Leo settled for a plain red tee with a pair of jeans. Both were obviously well-used as they each had at least one hole, but he didn't give a damn.

After he was dressed, he grabbed his morning medication and opened his bedroom door. He made his way to the bottom of the steps and paused for a minute. He took a breath and finally began to climb the stairs quietly. As he did, he noticed all the windows were opened and the sun shone through into the house already. Clearly, Mrs. Hammel was a morning person.

Reaching the top of the stairs, he found her busy in the kitchen preparing breakfast in her robe and pink, fuzzy slippers. Her blond hair was tied up into a messy bun as she worked on flipping pancakes.

Now in the daylight, Leo noticed how tiny she really was. Mrs. Hammel had a fairly delicate frame and didn't seem to stand too much taller than him. He was probably two or three inches shorter.

Sensing him standing at the top of the stairs, still holding onto the railing, Mrs. Hammel suddenly looked over at him with a friendly smile and welcoming green eyes.

"Good morning, Leo," she said. "Did you have a good sleep?"

"I guess," he muttered as he slowly made his way into the kitchen. "It was fine."

"That's good to hear. I recently bought a new mattress for that downstairs bedroom. You know, I used to have company stay with me every once in a while, as I told you before. The old mattress was getting too worn out. And now, really, I don't have many people come my way anymore so... well, I thought it would be nice to give you something comfortable to sleep on."

He offered her a half-smile with absolutely no meaning behind it. "Thanks."

"Oh, no problem. After all, I had wanted to get rid of the old thing long before. You were the perfect excuse for me to actually go ahead with it," she chuckled.

The perfect excuse.

Yeah, thanks.

Grabbing a glass from the cupboard, he pretended he didn't care about her statement and filled it in the sink. Popping a couple of his pills in his mouth, he swallowed them along with a gulp of water.

"Do you like pancakes, Leo?"she glanced at him, checking each pancake on the bottoms.

"Sure."

"Oh, that's good. What do you usually have on them? There are a bunch of fresh strawberries in the fridge as well as bananas on the counter. If you want, you could cut a few of those up while I finish up. I might even be able to whip up a bit of whipped cream as well. If I have enough cream that is. The cutting board is just behind you on the island."

With nothing better to do, he figured having something to do might kill the inevitable awkwardness between them that would eventually show through sooner or later.

He sighed and opened the fridge to pull the red fruit out and onto the counter as well as the bananas. His eyes searched for a second before turning and asking, "Where are the knives?"

"Dear me!" she declared. "I forgot. You can just use the ones in that drawer there. No, to the right. One more. Yes. That's the one. There should be a few steak knives you can use at the front."

Finding them, he grabbed the one best fitting to cut the fruit and set to work.

He was at it for a little while, just enough to fill the bottom of a small bowl and for Mrs. Hammel to get to work on making the whipped cream, when Leo suddenly felt something press against his leg. Startled, he jumped back and looked down to see... a calico cat rubbing itself onto him. Purring, it weaved itself in and out of his legs and then bent down to sniff his toes. It tickled.

"You have a cat?" Leo asked with a small smirk.

Not only did she have a garden, she had a cat. She was literally the stereotypical woman he had thought lived in this neighborhood.

"Oh, goodness!" Mrs. Hammel suddenly turned around, finding the cat at Leo's feet. "I suppose you never met Cookie yet. I do hope you are not allergic."

"Cookie?" he asked with slight amusement, looking down at its black and brown patches. This was the first time he would actually live with a house pet other than a few fish or a couple hamsters. He suspected he'd get a dog somewhere down the line, but a cat? "No, Mrs. Hammel, I'm not allergic."

She smiled sweetly. "Oh, good. But, please, call me Alice. Mrs. Hammel just seems too formal."

"Sure," he said and gently pushed the cat aside with his foot so he could continue with what he was doing.

Soon they were at the table eating breakfast, Cookie sitting at the window seat just behind the table, watching the birds land on the porch railing.

"I'm planning on going downtown today," Alice said after taking a bite of her breakfast. "Are you interested in joining me?"

Leo took a sip of his orange juice. "Depends," he muttered.

"Well, I need to grab a few groceries. I'm running low on a few things. I also have a few bills I need to pay and then I thought maybe we could stop by the mall or something to maybe expand your wardrobe. That small backpack of yours couldn't possibly hold very many clothes."

The mall? Gross. That was the place he reserved for the ditsy, Aphrodite, teenage gals. "My clothes are fine," he fought back.

Alice made a discrete eyebrow raise and glanced at the shirt and jeans he was wearing at present. "Leo, dear, I don't believe it would hurt. I'll even let you pick out what you want. You'll learn to appreciate having some nice things to wear and I bet you'll have a good time picking things out."

Hah. Yeah right.

"Whatever," he mumbled and finished his breakfast. He didn't really feel like fighting with her.

* * *

There was no other place he hated more at the moment. Really. Who went to the mall for fun? Not Leo. Actually, no guy in their right mind would. You can thank the System for him being here. Great job guys. You actually got him inside a mall. It's really appreciated...

Not.

Leo was so done. His feet were killing him and he was so ready to head back to the house to get some much-needed rest, however, Alice kept insisting to try out just one more store. Of course, that meant hit every store on the way out. And he thought Calypso was torture to shop with. Alice beat all.

This was probably the tenth store Alice dragged him into and the shopping bags were piling up. Aside from school supplies, he probably got more shirts than he really needed along with pants. There was no way he would be able to wear all the shoes she bought him and the amount of socks were insane. It was kind of embarrassing to have to pick up a few boxers with her as well, but really, he stopped caring after a few minutes into it. He just held onto the silent hope that this store was _actually_ the last one.

Yeah. Like that worked so well for all the others...

"Leo, honey, are you done?" Alice called from the other side of the dressing room door.

Yup. On top of having to look through all the clothing on the racks, he actually had to try them all on. Another reason he hated the mall.

"I guess," Leo called back while buttoning up the pants. He reached out for the doorknob and opened it to see his reflection standing directly in front of him in the mirror.

He was wearing a pair of tan pants with a red, plaid, button-up shirt over top a white T-shirt. On his feet were black and red skater shoes and a grey beanie on his head. To be honest, he didn't even recognize himself for a split second. This was totally not his style at all. He'd gladly give this up for his suspenders and tool belt. This was so... mortal. Not that that was bad, but it just didn't feel right.

"Oh! Look at you!" his foster mom cheered from the side bench on his right. "That combination looks so good on you! I think we should add that to the collection, don't you?" she said with an approving grin like she did for every outfit he tried on.

"Sure," he sighed and looked back at himself in the mirror. He wasn't sure how many times he would actually wear all of these things but he supposed he should try wearing at least one new thing each day. Even though he didn't like them, he knew avoiding them would be rude and he didn't want to bring out the possible monster inside Alice if she got offended.

"Okay, then, I think this can be the last one. Go change back into your other clothes and we'll head to the till."

Obeying, he turned and closed himself back into the claustrophobic change room.

* * *

They were now in the food court breaking to eat lunch. The cart was pulled up beside their table and Leo felt the need to roll his eyes at the amount of shopping bags that were piled in it. Passing shoppers couldn't help but stare at them, making Leo slightly self-conscious. This was the mall wasn't it? They were allowed to shop just like them. Who cares if Alice wanted to buy out the stores?

"I thought tomorrow we could go check out the school you will be attending starting Monday," she was saying. "Have you ever attended the high school here?"

"No," he answered truthfully. In all honestly, he hasn't been in a school for... gods. Something like four years. Was it going onto five? Who knew, but he was looking forward to it just as much as he had been to shop for clothing. That is to say, not at all. He was so out of wack with that whole atmosphere he almost forgot what it felt like to be in it.

"Do any of your friends go there then?"

"No."

"Oh, well I'm sure you'll make a bunch of new ones. You know, sometimes I volunteer to help out with the different functions they have on there every once in a while whether it's a dance or a talent show. There was even a huge bake sale they invited me to help out in one time. There are so many nice kids there. I'm sure you'll find a nice group to hang out with."

And that was one thing he didn't really like admitting. He wasn't very good with people. Machines were better suited for him. People made him nervous and the idea of being placed in a whole school of other teenagers made him anxious. His mask was hard to hold for long periods of time. Sure he could do it and he's done it before, but it left him more than exhausted. Then to come back to the house to face Alice again gave him a headache just thinking about it. Did people not understand how difficult life was for him?

Alice stabbed a fry from her poutine and took a bite. "My late husband used to like the fact that the students made sure to include the newcomers."

" _All_ of them?" he asked with a hint of a suspicious tone. That was a little hard to believe. No school Leo went to bothered to treat him like that.

"From what I'm aware of," she nodded. "You see, he was a teacher there. An English teacher. I was the substitute when he was away. Full time though, I was a nurse and even now I fill in for those who are not able to make their shifts. Most times however, I like volunteering at the Yonkers Animal Shelter. Have you been there?"

He raised his eyebrow. "Lady, I'm a teenage _guy_. I don't do that kind of thing. I'll take a car to work on over probably anything you suggest."

Alice smiled. "So you like working with your hands then? You're a mechanic?"

"Yeah."

"That's fun! Do you fix up a lot of cars?"

"No."

Her grin faded slightly with confusion. "Oh. Well, what do you like fixing up then?"

"Machines."

Again, the smile melted as she studied him. She was trying to understand him, he knew, but he wasn't going to give her much of anything to go off of. The less information she knew about him, the lower the chance she had to hurt him.

"So you like machines and working with your hands. What else?" she asked.

"Stuff."

Her lips pressed together as she sighed out from her nose. Threading her fingers together and resting her elbows on the table, she looked down at her food and said something under her breath. It sounded like _I see_.

Seeing that she was clearly not going to get anything out of him, she decided to change conversation back to the original topic. "I heard you're quite the math whiz. The chemistry teacher at the high school is said to be well-liked by the students."

"I've never liked any of my old teachers."

"Well maybe it will be different this time," she suggested cheerfully. "There's always a first."

"There may be firsts, but there's never an end," he muttered under his breath so she couldn't hear him. Sometimes he preferred the awkward silence rather than his goody-two-shoes, over-positive foster mom who never actually saw reality. Life isn't a bunch of sunshine all the time like she makes it out to be.

"And now with all the new clothes and school supplies we got today, you'll be able to start the school year in style. Won't that be great?" Alice asked before taking a sip of her iced tea.

"Yeah. Just great," he grumbled.

"I just hope were aren't missing anything for you. I don't thinks so though. If we did, I'm sure we have things at home you can use. After all, my husband was a teacher."

He looked up at her from his empty food wrappers, seeing his opening. "Would you mind if we headed back then? No offense, but my feet are killing me."

She laughed. "Mine too. Alright, Leo. Let's go home. The day's already half over," and she started to gather their things.

Finally.

* * *

 **There you guys have it! Another chapter created and more to come! Did you like it?  
**

 **YOU GUYS CHOOSE:** **This is the part where you guys come in! My homework for you is to help me decide what the next chapter should be about! ;D What should the focus be on? What will be next for Leo? Should we see what's happening back at camp? Is there going to be a pop up from the past? What kinds of things do you guys want to see? Share your ideas in reviews if you would!  
**

 **AGAIN! THERE IS A POLL QUESTION ON MY PROFILE PAGE! PLEASE CHECK IT OUT! :D**

 **Your To Do List:**

 _ **1) Review and/or choose what happens next chapter  
**_

 _ **2) Vote  
**_

 _ **3) Keep your eye out for chapter six  
**_

 **~supworld~**


	6. Tunnel Vision

**I guess I have an apology to make to you guys. I took a super long time to update, both because I had some _serious_ writers block, but also, life is getting so crazy at the moment and probably will be from now on. Why, you ask? Maybe it has something to do with becoming a teacher! Yippy! (not a school teacher, I assure you. I'm not old enough for that job XD) That, of course, means lots of work and planning and a lot less free time than what I had before. That's okay though because I enjoy being busy. :) I thought it was fair to warn you all. Please don't be mad, but rather continue to look out for my updates. I will try the hardest I can to get to them. I'm not abandoning them. :)  
**

Bentley.B: **Awwww! Thanks! ^_^ You _legit _made me smile so wide when I read your comment! Knowing that I'm working with characters that aren't even my own (except my OCs), it tickles me pink to hear you say that I capture Leo perfectly! I try my best, and yes, this is truly how I see him underneath all that adorable hotstuff that we fans learned to fall in love with. As for your suggestion for this chapter, the answer shall be posted right after the reviews. :)** **  
**

LonelySkeleton013: **You are welcome, friend, and thank you. :) It's nice that I got some suggestions for this chapter too. I love it and helps me feel motivated. It is true that this stranger is one we cannot fully trust, and you know... I think I'll be really great and tell you a secret... Nah, just kidding! Had you for a second, didn't I? (Probably not... DX)  
**

irene2005: **Yay! I'm so happy you are enjoying this so much! Unlike other stories, I kinda wanted Leo to come in stronger in the sense where he is willing to either fight, or never let anyone get to him. He's been through enough of this crazy mess to know what he can do to avoid those certain things, however, as we all know, life happens and gets in the way... What will this mean for this story I wonder? O_o**

 **Last chapter, I asked what I should focus this new chapter on. I had a couple suggestions and liked both equally. However, I think I agree with** Bentley.B's **suggestion a little more. I was tempted to go with a pop up from the past for this (actually, I was going to before deciding that I wanted your guys' opinions), but decided that checking up with Camp Half-Blood and how they are handling things on their end is a great way to balance it out (just as** Bentley.B **suggested)**. **Sorry,** LonelySkeleton013 **, but there will be other opportunities. :)**

 **WARNINGS:** **nothing yet...**

 **SHOUT OUT!  
Alice Hammel and Ryan Matthews are my creations. **

* * *

**~Annabeth's POV~**

Annabeth was determined to keep her promise to Leo. This morning's Iris message gave her a proper understanding of how much he was relying on them to get him out of there and she wasn't about to disappoint him. In fact, in the later afternoon, she had Iris messaged him back in order to go over what he had told the officers the day he was taken in. It was great information to have, and now, when they read through the documents, the papers will surly hold everything to back Leo up. Who had these opportunities?

She, along with Chiron, Jason, and Piper, were all crowded around Chiron's computer, which just happened to be the one and only at camp due to the danger it could cause while in the use of demigods. To keep them as safe as he could, Chiron took it upon himself to be the one to operate the machine while the rest of them sat close at his side.

They had put together a fair amount in a single day. The documents still had a ways to go but they were closer to completion than what they were before. All they had to do was continue this exact work pattern for the next week or two and they would be finished. Unfortunately, Annabeth knew the chances of having perfect days like this back-to-back didn't happen often and could even be said to be impossible, but she wasn't about to lose hope because of that. While she still had the chance and the free time, she was going to sit and get as much as she could, done. She had to. If everyone was going to be leaving for the school year in less than a full week, they had to spend every free second they had in order to get their friend back home. He was counting on them.

With dedication to their friend, all four of them managed to work for eight solid hours in total on the documents. Their eyes were exhausted from staring at a computer screen for said amount of time, so, finally, Chiron insisted on everyone quitting for the rest of what remained of the day. With that, they stopped just after supper and laid back, only to worry more about Leo and what was happening on his end.

The three of them, plus Percy and Calypso, sat on the sandy beach and discussed the situation. It was difficult to think of things to talk about rather than the situation at hand, however, their conversation about Leo was something you could possibly call the "hot topic". No matter what, they always found themselves bringing the conversation back to him. They tried their hardest to stay away from negative thinking though, but Annabeth was continuously forcing herself to stay away from pondering one specific question that was creeping out from the back of her mind: What if they couldn't get him back?

"So who's going to be working on the papers when we're all gone for the school year?" Percy asked, his fingers intertwined with Annabeth's in a form of comfort.

"Chiron," she stated plainly. "If he becomes too busy, Malcolm offered to help out along with my other siblings, but I don't know how far that'll go. Malcolm is staying only up until October and the others are all pretty glued to their studies. Sometimes I wonder if I should just stay behind and help fix all this."

"Annabeth, don't make yourself feel bad for leaving," Piper insisted. "The only way you can get credentials in architecture is to go to school for it. I know you're worrying about Leo, but you're not the only one fighting for him, you know."

"I know," she whispered with her gaze fixed on the ground. "I just feel like I have the most weight and expectations in getting him back, and with me leaving, I'll be taking the chances of winning him back with me. You guys need someone able to work on the documents."

Jason reached down and grabbed a pebble hiding under the sand. "I don't think any of you considered Coach Hedge, have you?"

All eyes turned to him.

"Coach?" Piper asked.

"Yeah," he said while tossing the small stone in the water, creating a small splash. "He's our protector, right? In order to find and protect us before we realized who and what we were - well, with Leo and Piper at least - he had to hide under the radar and you have to admit, he did a pretty good job. Doing so must have involved a lot of paperwork for the certain jobs he took on. And," he smiled, "he lives here at camp. Correct me if I'm wrong, but to me, he seems like another great team member."

"Team member?" Percy asked with a cocked eyebrow and a grin. "What, do we have a team now? Can I name it?"

"That's not a bad idea," Annabeth nodded with careful thought to Jason's statement.

"Cool. I suggest the name should be the Leo Rescue Squad," Percy grinned with childish pride. "LRS for short."

She glared at him. "No, I mean Coach Hedge."

"Coach Hedge as our team name?"

After an eye roll, she turned back to Jason. "Do you think he'll want to help?"

"It's worth a shot," Jason stated. "After all, he is our protector."

With a family of his own to look after, Annabeth thought to herself. She questioned whether or not he actually had time of his own to help, but there wasn't any harm in asking.

"Alright," she decided. "We can ask him. We just, you know, might have to give him some guidelines. We don't want him throwing any unnecessary insults about dying in there."

Percy snickered as Jason and Piper shook their heads.

Then there was Calypso.

Gods, she hadn't said a word since they placed themselves on the beach. She didn't even help out with the papers today like she had said she would. What was going on inside her mind? For three days straight, she had been non-stop asking questions about how the documents were coming along. When she did come in to the office to check up on things, even though she didn't know how things worked in the twenty-first century, her eyes were always glued to the screen. Every once in a while, she'd suggest something, desperate to find ways to help. Today though, she stopped by the office only long enough to ask if they were coming to eat lunch. She hadn't even held the regular look of determination they were all becoming accustom to seeing from her. Now, her eyes were sad and full of longing, as if she was trying hard to keep it hidden from the world, trying to convince herself that she was strong.

Annabeth knew that look. She had had to use it a few times herself and Athena only knew how hard it was to hold it. Of course, it was so much worse though when the reason behind it was because the one they loved was taken away. That hurt more than anything she knew.

Gods, if this was Hera's doing...

Calypso stared at the distant horizon where the ocean met the evening sky, blue touching orange. It was picturesque view, but her eyes weren't seeing it. The way her face was slightly scrunched told Annabeth that her mind couldn't be further then this setting, almost like she wasn't even there. Her whole body language was slouched and depressed, a very ungoddess-like fashion for a girl of her beauty to sit.

The others talked on, the topic finally changing about what they were looking forward to in the school year. Annabeth, however, was still fixed on Calypso.

Placing a hand on her shoulder, she asked quietly, "Are you okay?"

A little startled, she looked at her. "Oh... uh, yeah. Yeah, I'm fine."

"Are you sure? There's no shame in admitting you're not."

"No, I'm..." she sighed. "...It just feels like forever."

"What does?"

Calypso looked away and fiddled with a seashell she had apparently found in the sand beside her. "The wait. I know, I'm impatient, but three thousand years on an island does that to you. Once you're free, you expect everything to go so much faster."

"Time is funny that way, I guess," Annabeth smiled weakly.

"That's one thing I find ironic about being back in the modern world. Even though time runs by a different clock on Ogygia, the days still feel the same as they did there."

Annabeth shrugged. "I wouldn't know. He won't be gone for long though. Even if the documents take longer than we intend them to, in all reality, if we don't get them done that fast, an extra week or two should be all we need."

She didn't mention the longest period of time to complete the papers like she had with Leo. She could see it from his eyes that he had been panicked at the mere mention of it, and for Calypso, it would probably make her fall into despair. She's been through enough. It would be cruel to trouble her any more than she already was.

"I just have to be patient, I guess," the ex-goddess decided. "After all, Leo's safe and in the hands of someone who had been willing to take him in. I guess if anything, we should be grateful for this Alice Hammel, right? For taking him under her roof?"

That struck Annabeth with a bit of shock. She never even thought of taking all this in that way. Leo's pained girlfriend was comforting her friend about Leo's absence. Go figure...

"Yeah," she nodded with wonder of this girl's strength. "Yeah, that's true. I suppose that's a positive in all this troublesome mess. You know, you do surprise me."

Calypso looked up at her with puzzlement, her golden hair brushing her face in the gentle breeze. "How so?"

"You don't give up like most people would."

A look came across her face - one Annabeth wasn't quite sure how to read - and glanced back at the orange horizon. "I won't ever give up on Leo. He never gave up on me when it was supposed to be impossible. I need to live up to the dedication he showed me. It's the least I can do."

That statement brought Annabeth back to last year when Percy had been missing. The intense amount of determination was the strongest she had ever felt in her life. It was also the greatest thing dragging her down. Everything was set aside as her full attention was fixated on him and him alone. Other duties were pushed onto her siblings as she searched day and night for her lost boyfriend. However, it was because of her determination that she felt herself losing energy and patience. She grew frustrated and angry at the whole world, mainly the gods 'cause, well, why not? They seem to be involved with every miserable occurrence in everyone's lives. Every night she cried herself to sleep with the continuous pain in her heart, nearing desperation to just make it stop.

Even though Calypso knew where her boyfriend was and that he was safe and in good hands, didn't mean it was any less hard on her. She was still separated from him, possibly for a long time, and regularly fought falling into that unforgivable pit known as hopelessness. It wasn't even a sure thing they could get Leo back with the papers complete anyway. It was more of a silent sign of hope.

"Look," Annabeth said suddenly. "I know it's hard having to wait like this, but maybe you should take a few days to sit back and relax. Pick berries or maybe even join the Apollo cabin for their afternoon music session. Do something to get him off your mind, even for a single day. It's better than sitting in the office all day or waiting on the beach."

A faint grin came to the goddess's lips. "It's alright. Thanks anyway, Annabeth."

She returned as much of a smile as she could, but it was more concerned than friendly.

Calypso was becoming tunnel visioned, and that was not an easy way to live.

* * *

 **Super short chapter and I apologize, but there you have it. Even got Annabeth in there. :) I hoped you enjoyed it. Probably not as grand as you thought after such a long wait, but it's something.  
**

 **Look out for chapter seven, peeps! ;) (right after Someday)  
**

 **~supworld~**


	7. New School, New Friends

**Hey guys, long time no update. It's been torture for the amount of time it took to post this chapter, I know. However, you get to finally see what will happen next!**

 **Reviews:**

irene2005: **Thanks for reviewing! :) I honestly didn't realize the last chapter would hold so much meaning while I was writing it and I'm pretty happy with the way it turned out as well.  
Yeah, I think Calypso and Annabeth needed some kind of one-on-one conversation knowing the fact that Percy was taken away from Annabeth as well at one point.  
**

LonelySkeleton013: **Thanks! I'm really enjoying being a piano teacher. I get to hang out with my students and share my talents with them. :) It's such a great feeling to watch them advance and learn.  
And I'm glad your enjoying my story! I can't wait for everyone to learn more about Alice Hammel. There are plans... ;P**

DiAngelo646: **I'm so glad you're reading and enjoying my story so much! :D I've been working hard on all my stories. I truly love reading feedback, so thank you for encouraging me! ;)**

Hanakoori13: **Thank you so much for your review! It's interesting that you say that because that was one of the biggest issues I had while writing this story. I know Leo's friends would probably try a lot harder to avoid him being taken away, however, in order for my story idea to work, Leo had to be taken away somehow and I didn't really know how else for it to happen. And the thing is, I kinda wanted him to be hanging out with his friends in the beginning as well. I apologize if it threw things off for you because quite honestly, it kinda did for me too in a way. I guess I was just at the point where I didn't know what else to do with the situation so this is the way it turned out. I'm super excited that you are enjoying everything else though. :) It's difficult to find the proper time to write, whether I'm busy or simply not in the right set of mind to write anything worthwhile to read, but thanks for your encouragement all the same. :) It's keeps me motivated. (Oh, and by the way, I visited your profile page and it got me excited! Looks like we have a few things in common! Sherlock for the win! Over the Garden Wall is also something I enjoy, and Into the Woods is another good one! Also, The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings are great. XD)**

 **Okay, with the reviews done, it's now time to go on with the story you have all been waiting a ridiculous amount of time to read. Enjoy! :)  
**

 **WARNINGS:** **CHILD ABUSE, SWEARING  
**

 **SHOUT OUT!  
I do not own anyone you recognize as Percy Jackson peeps. Everyone else, I do.  
**

* * *

 **~Leo's POV~**

His breath was ragged, his heart pounding against his chest. There were footsteps running after him, those of no other than the woman he was to call mother. He tripped a few times and pulled himself up as quickly as he could, knowing each stumble he made could very well be the biggest mistake he ever made. Tears fell down his face with terror and dread of what was to come if he ever let her catch up.

He didn't mean to break it! It was an accident! But she wouldn't believe him. She would find a way to corner him, to accuse him of whatever she could think of just to watch him curl up into a defenseless ball to keep from being struck. She would let him cry and whimper in a helpless manner for the mere enjoyment of it. Then she'd let him have it, pounding and hitting him with all her might.

She yelled at him to stop and face her, but he didn't listen. He made sure to keep his vision fixated before him, not daring to look behind. Learning from experience, he realized checking behind his shoulder slowed him down. Instead, with his eyes focused in front of him, he ran faster, running through doorways and around corners. He tripped climbing the stairs but he didn't let that stop him. He didn't recall the house being this big.

Her voice was getting closer, her footsteps thumping up the steps after him. The blood in his body ran cold knowing how quickly she was gaining on him.

"Leo!" she shouted. "Leo! Come back here! Do you really think running will change anything?!"

Darting down the hall, he found an open door leading to an office room, and bolted inside. He slammed the door and pressed his back against it. Panicked swallowed him as he realized there was no lock on the door and another sob escaped him. She was right. Running wouldn't do anything. It was only delaying the inevitable.

His heart skipped a beat as he watched the doorknob twist.

With shaky hands, he quickly grabbed hold of it. He stood there fighting with her to keep the knob in the same position, but she was stronger than him. Sweat formed on his forehead as he used all this strength to hold it. However, it seemed to be in vain as she eventually succeeded in unlatching the door.

It began to open.

"Aaaaauuuggh!" he shouted, giving all he had in him to push the door back. It did little to no good as it continued to widen until there was a gap large enough for someone to sneak through - and she did just that.

With eyes full of rage, she squeezed through the opening and stood panting directly beside him. Her blond hair was covering half her face, causing her to fit the part of a villain in a Marvel movie, which wasn't too far off in all reality.

She smirked at him in an all too familiar way. "Well this was a stupid idea now wasn't it?"

Backing away with fear, he soon found himself hiding into a corner with no way of escaping.

"Please," he begged, tears falling down his face. "I didn't mean to break it. I can save up to buy another one. I-I'll get a job and pay for it myself."

"Such a sweat boy to offer. No. I don't think that will do, and I'll tell you why."

He swallowed and desperately tried backing into the corner as far as he could to build distance between him and his foster mother. Without caring, she edged forward and continued to near him until she was able to clutch his arm in a painful grip. Leo held back a whimper as she towered over him.

"That vase was my great aunt's. She, like the rest of my family, immigrated from England with my great uncle and my great grandparents here to America with it in her possession. Do you know how old it is?" she asked him in a deadly whisper. "Do you?"

He shook his head.

"One hundred and fifty years old." She then reached out and gripped his jawline, pushing his head against the wall while keeping his face lifted towards her so he could look at her. "Do you think you could find another vase like that if you tried? A vase that has been in my family for one hundred and fifty years? No? And even if you did, do you have any idea how expensive it would be? Hmm?"

Leo tried grabbing at her hand holding onto his jaw with a firm grip. It was beginning to hurt.

"That vase, Leo, the one you broke, was worth two thousand dollars in US bills. A priceless work of art worthy of becoming a display at a museum." Tightening her grip even more, she leaned her face in closer to make her next statement very clear. "You were told to play with your little friend quietly and to keep your hands off my artifacts. Now you broke it. Do you know what I do to little boys who break my things?"

He sobbed with fear again but felt the need to answer her question anyway. "N-no."

With an evil smile, she let go of him and stood straight again, looking him over for a few seconds.

It was that short moment he stupidly let his guard down, thinking maybe she would try a new way of punishment, when she pulled back her hand and smacked him hard across the face.

He held his cheek where her hand had made contact with him and willed himself to keep the tears in. His attempt at bravery died very quickly, however, as another strike hit him again, harder than the first and causing him to let out a yelp. Obviously she found this quite amusing as she struck him again and again. Eventually, she grabbed his arm once more and threw him to the ground, his chest hitting the hardwood floor with a _thump_. It was then that she started kicking him. She kicked him in the gut, his shins, his head, all with her shoes wherever she could and... oh gods. It hurt! It hurt so _bad_! He could taste blood but at this point he didn't know where it was coming from.

He cried out for her to stop, but she only responded by stomping on his hand with her high-heeled shoe, digging the heal into his flesh and ripping a gash into his fingers. He pulled his hand back in tears and rolled onto his back. Using his legs, he tried pushing her away but she simply dodged them and then eventually pinned him in place. It was then that she held his face still and used her claw-like manicured fingernails to rake her fingers into his flesh, yet not hard enough to draw blood.

"Stop it! Please! Stop it! Leave me alone!

"Stop it!

"Stop it!

"Stop it!"

Leo suddenly opened his eyes wide and bolted upright, breathing heavily and heart pounding. He was gasping, his lungs begging for air. It felt like someone was squeezing his chest. Slowly though, after swallowing, he took a moment to collect himself and make out where he was.

Everything was dark. There were large silhouettes of objects in the room, possibly furniture. There were two doors, one to his right, another to his left. Either one could lead out. There was also a closet directly beside him on his right as well as a large desk. He then looked down and noticed he was sitting in a queen-sized bed, the striped duvet a complete mess. His hands were gripping it firmly. One of his pillows was slowly sliding off the bed.

With a sigh of relief, it was then he realized he was alone.

He reached out and pulled his pillow back beside the other and tried his best at re-positioning his comforter. He felt something drip down his temple and wiped it as well as his entire forehead. His face was wet with perspiration after such a vivid nightmare.

Gods, he hadn't had a visit from the past for so long. He thought for sure he was free of them. It took forever to actually get them out of his head. He'd pushed the memories away and buried them deep into the depths of his mind. He'd trained himself to forget everything to the best of his capability. Obviously though, it wasn't enough.

It really had felt like he was there though. All those lashes and blows he'd experienced, they felt so real to life he could actually feel the physical pain. Of course, at one point, he really _had_ been there and the hits _were_ real. It had been years since he had finally escaped Miss Teresa, back when he was eleven years old. After finding him in the kind of position he was in, officials pulled him out of there immediately and there was a huge law suit laid over Miss Teresa's head for child abuse. She fought back - gods, did she ever - but in he end, she was still thrown behind bars for a generous number of years. Leo wanted to say he had felt better after she was put away. The truth was though, that it didn't matter whether she was locked up or not. There were still others out to get him no matter what he did.

Now, he was waiting for what this place offered. Two weeks. That's what he'd give Alice. Just two weeks to determine whether she was like everyone else before her or not. After that, if he was right about her being the villain, he was going to risk breaking the promise he had made Annabeth. She just didn't understand. Sometimes a person _had_ to run.

Lying back down, Leo edged toward the dryer side of the bed and pulled the blanket over his shoulder. There was no telling whether or not he was actually going to fall back to sleep or not, but his heart was still racing and his body trembling. In this condition, there was nothing he could, nor _wanted_ to do, other than to calm down again. Otherwise it feel like trying to function normally while operating a jackhammer. It simply couldn't be done.

As hard as his effort was though, he didn't fall back to sleep for the rest of the night.

* * *

"Leo, honey, are you ready to go?" Alice called from the doorway. "Principal Wells will be waiting for us at the school. He only has two hours to spend. He's a very busy man."

"Yeah, I'm coming. Just a sec," he answered, tying his new sneakers from his room.

Yes, today was the day they were going to check out the stupid Yonkers High School so they could enlist him. It will be opening on the first day of school which was exactly one week from now and Leo was dreading it. He's mentioned he hasn't been in a school setting for something like four years, and the Wilderness School did _not_ count. That place was a prison, people constantly telling him what to do and when to do it. He literally lived there, everyday trying his best to either keep to himself or bring a little life to the place by acting as the class clown. He wasn't ever allowed to leave the place and if he ever tried (which, of course, was many times before he made friends with Piper and Jason) the punishment was severe.

The only good thing about that school compared to regular public school though was the fact that at least they were all considered troublemakers worthy enough of being sent away. Even though you were introduced to the class the same as the rest of the schools out there, at least no one constantly eyeballed you, wondering who you were or where you were from. To them, you were simply another student they didn't care about. They all knew what kind of kids they all were and why they were there more or less, so why did it matter to them why a new kid was sitting at the back of the class?

Thankfully, though, Mr. Howard Wells, the principal of this school, had offered to show him around privately. Unfortunately, Leo knew the reason behind it. Because he was considered a "troubled" kid, the principal felt he needed to take extra measures to "help" him out, offering some kind of crutch to lean on. Bullshit. It was just as bad as asking him to hold his hand to cross the street!

Pft. He was lucky Leo actually appreciated the private orientation though. Gods, he hated being pitied.

Leo climbed up the stairs to the doorway and zipped up his red sweatshirt. Alice stood and had a look at him.

"You all ready to go?"

He nodded. "I guess."

"Alright," and she opened the door. When they were both outside she turned and locked it from the outside before they continued down the walk that led to the driveway. Her black Sedan was parked there.

There was a small beep from the car as well as two quick flashes from the headlights, signally that it was unlocked, and she hopped into the drivers seat. He copied her, only he took the passengers side.

They pulled out of the driveway and drove wordlessly in the direction of the school.

When they reached their destination, Leo suddenly remembered how much he hated school. The tall building was all brick with a dark green roof. Windows lined the front while tall trees with leaves a bright yellow and bare bushes surrounded the schoolyard and the outdoor lunch tables that were barely visible around the side of the building. There was a large pole before the school with an American flag flapping in the wind, symbolizing freedom and all that other stuff people believe in. Not him.

Alice entered the nearly empty parking lot. Four other vehicles sat in different parking stalls close to the school doors: a silver BMW, a black SUV, a red truck with rust spots speckling the wheel wells, and a white jeep. Leo knew one of these vehicles must have belonged to Principal Wells.

The car was slowed to a stop as they parked between the jeep and SUV. The engine died and Alice pulled the keys out of the ignition.

Before they got out, Alice faced him. "Leo, I want to make sure you'll give a good first impression. It's important. Principal Wells is usually quick to snap when it comes to attitude or disrespect. Promise me you'll be on your best behavior."

"What makes you think I won't?"

She sighed and made a face. "Please, Leo. Promise me."

Rolling his eyes, he eventually nodded. "Fine. How long is thing going to be?"

"I don't think it will take too long, but it's hard to say. Probably nothing over an hour."

"Does that involve the talking?"

"Leo... " He could tell she was trying not to make him even more upset. "The sooner you agree, the faster we can go home."

Home. Maybe for her. His home was was roughly an hour-and-a-half away back at Camp Half-Blood. But how could he possibly explain that to her?

"Fine," he mumbled and opened his door, wanting nothing more than to get through this day.

The two of them began making their way up the school walkway to the front doors. Alice strode beside him, fixing her blazer and pink blouse as they went. She was a very classy woman, always dressed fine and proper. A pearl necklace hung around her neck and matching earrings were clipped to her ears. On her feet she wore high-heeled shoes to go with her pencil skirt and her hair was pulled up in the usual bun. It almost made Leo feel uncomfortable to be around her. He wore only a pair of grey skinny jeans and a sweatshirt.

Alice pulled the door to the school open for them to enter. However, before they could get any further than a few steps in, she turned him by the shoulders to face her. His eyebrows knit together as she held him in place.

"Remember what I told you. Smile and be polite," she insisted.

"I will."

"Good," she smiled sheepishly and brushed something off his shoulder before straightening the wrinkles in his sweater, apparently wanting him to look presentable. "There," she said almost in a whisper. "Let's go, shall we?"

Leo followed behind her as she walked further down the halls with blue lockers on either side until they came across the door they were looking for. Passing through it, they entered a waiting room with an empty secretary desk and chairs lining one of the walls for certain students waiting to see the principal. To his surprise, some of those chairs were occupied by three teenagers somewhere around his age.

Sitting closest to them was a guy with thick-framed glasses and curly auburn hair. The front was longer than the rest of his fine-trimmed hair and hung almost to his eyes, giving it some style. Freckles spotted his nose and cheekbones. The boy adjusted his glasses and looked down at his shirt. If Leo had to guess, this guy was known as the nerd at school and was rather shy.

The other guy who sat furthest to them was large and burly with sandy brown hair and green eyes. He wore a football sweatshirt indicating he was part of the team here at this school. Leo wasn't sure if he could trust him knowing this, but he had a feeling he was yet to find out.

The girl sat between both boys, her hair in a short, pale, pink bob. She, out of the three, was the one Leo wasn't able to label. He had no idea what to think of her. She wore a plaid skirt with knee-high socks. A light blue ski jacket was held in her arms and a book bag rested at her feet, several pins attached to it.

As soon as they saw him, all three of them waved at him shyly and he returned it with a hesitant smile. He had no idea who they where or why they were here.

Beside the football player was a door with the principal's name printed in golden letters on the window. Through the foggy glass, Leo could make out the shape of a tall man with dark hair sitting at his desk, probably looking through student files. Alice tapped the door and the figure looked up as if startled. He stood up from his chair and quickly made it to the door. He opened it.

Principal Wells stood an easy 6' 3" with salt and pepper hair, the white only starting to shine through. He had wrinkles on the edges of his brown eyes and had a pointy nose. It also looked as if he could use a quick shave to be rid of the stubble growing on his chin. I really didn't suit his tall face.

"Ah, Mrs. Hammel!" he declared with a large grin and shook her hand. "I'm so sorry for not meeting you at the door. I suppose I lost track of time. There were a few other things occupying my mind before you came."

"No worries, Principal Wells. I knew where to find you," Alice responded politely. Leo had a feeling these two knew each other for quite a while by the way they acknowledged one another.

"That's good," he nodded. Then he had a look at Leo standing at her side awkwardly. "Please, the both of you, come in and make yourself comfortable."

Alice thanked him as they walked past, Principal Wells stepping out of the way.

"Sit down, please," he insisted while motioning his hand to the two seats in front of his desk.

They sat.

Offering his hand, Principal Wells said, "You must be Leo Valdez."

Leo shook it and nodded. "Yours truly."

"Good, good," he smiled back in a pleased manner. "I've been told you come from Long Island."

"Yup."

From his side, he felt Alice give his arm a gentle squeeze, indicating her approval of his politeness.

 _Well, duh,_ he thought to himself. _I'm not going to act like a total asshole during moments like this. Did she actually think I was going to carry an attitude during a meeting with the principal? It's kinda important that people like me at times like this._

"That's great," the principal continued and they discussed many things involving where he went to school previously, which grade he left off from, and other stuff he didn't like answering. Some of those questions he had had to lie about. During the moments he wasn't being asked questions, Principal Wells and Alice chatted. Leo was becoming more and more certain the two were good friends, especially by the way Alice smiled at him. Dare he say it, there might have been something more between the two. Gross.

Eventually, after a short break in conversation, Principal Wells brought up another topic.

"Now, Leo, I know you didn't just come here to talk about school," he said. "The main reason you are here is to have a full school orientation, right?"

"Right," he answered back.

"On the way in, I'm sure you got a glimpse of the three students sitting in the waiting room. All three are excellent representatives of our school. I've asked each one of them if they were willing to give you a tour of the school themselves so you can get to know some of the students here, and they agreed. Do you think you would be willing to let them show you around?"

He shrugged. "We're all here. Why not?"

"Alright then. Come. I'll introduce you." Principal Wells then stood and led him over to the door and into the waiting room. The three students who had been sitting quietly when Leo and Alice first came in immediately brought themselves to their feet to greet him. The girl smiled.

"Leo," Principal Wells said, starting with the football player, "this is Trent Shaw, Bronwyn Labbett, and Andy Wibit."

Each in turn, they shook hands with him, welcoming him to their school. Trent, the football dude, nearly broke his hand doing so. Damn! Leo sure hoped he never got on his bad side. The guy could easily bulldoze him with next to no effort at all. He was like another Frank Zhang.

He sighed inwardly. Gods, did he ever miss home.

Principal Wells continued. "This is Leo Valdez. He came all the way from Long Island, NY. He's staying with Mrs. Hammel and it's important that he understands where everything is here in Yonkers High. I'll let you show him around, but please don't go any longer than three. I have a meeting later this afternoon and would appreciate it if I could lock up without being in a rush."

"No problem, Principal Wells," Bronwyn, the pink-haired girl, declared. "We shouldn't take long."

"Wonderful," he smiled. "Now, if you don't mind, there are a few other things I need to discuss with Mrs. Hammel. You go along and I'll meet up with you as soon as I can."

"'Kay, 'kay," she answered and grabbed Leo's hand, pulling him towards the door. "Come on. We'll show you everything you need to know."

 _Well, nothing like getting right to it,_ Leo thought to himself as he was dragged into the halls, the others in tow.

"So you're from Long Island?" she asked finally letting go of him. For the delicate hands this gal had, she was strong.

"Yup," he said rubbing his hand discretely.

"That's cool. My dad lives there."

"Neat."

"Yeah. I make trips up there every once in a while during the summer or sometimes through the holidays."

Trent interrupted their little discussion as they walked.

"This is the main hallway," he explained. "There are lockers, and over there is the glass shelf where we hold all our trophies for each game we win for football."

"The main hallway," Leo nodded with fake interest. "Never would have thought a hallway could be so exciting. Football? You part of the team?"

"Sure he is," Andy, the red-headed kid, muttered to himself in the background. "It's the only thing he talks about."

"Is not!" Trent argued back clearly hearing that small comment.

"Really?"

"Really. I enjoy cars too."

"Such wide horizons, Trent. I'm impressed."

"Stop it you two," Bronwyn sighed. She looked over at Leo with sympathy who was watching the guys pick at each other. "You have to excuse my friends. They're dreadfully childish at times. They never get along."

He snickered. "Hey, no problem. I've been in situations like that many times myself. My one friend Frank and I are at each other's backs all the time. It's great."

"That's the first time I've ever heard anyone call quarreling great," she uttered, confused.

Again, he laughed.

Soon enough, they reached one of the doors and Trent opened it for them. "This is the chemistry class," he explained. "Mr. Watson teaches here. He's really nice. We all like him a lot."

"I think Alice mentioned that," Leo murmured as he sneaked a peek at the desks all facing a larger one at the front of the classroom. A huge wipe board filled the wall behind the teacher's chair.

"Alice?" Bronwyn asked. "You mean Mrs. Hammel?"

"Yeah. Her. She also said her husband used to be a teacher here at this school."

Their faces grew a little dark.

"Oh, yeah," she muttered. "Mr. Hammel was really nice too. He smiled a lot."

Leo took a step into the classroom and took everything in: the posters, the science books, the plants, the science instruments. "Whatever happened to him, do you know?"

"He had a heart attack," Trent explained. "That was four years ago."

"Well then how in the world did you guys know him if it was four years ago? You wouldn't have been at this school at that time."

"No, we weren't, but we knew Mr. and Mrs. Hammel pretty well outside of school. You've probably heard about them being really involved in the community."

"Yeah. What's up with that?" Leo smirked.

The three looked at each other and shrugged.

"Not really sure," Bronwyn uttered. "I guess they just enjoyed it."

"Huh," he thought for a moment. "Which classroom is next on the list?"

She smiled. "Kitchen Ed."

"Cool."

Leo let the three of them show him the way to the next room, which was pretty much just around the corner. This time, the room was much larger, enough to fit several counters with their very own stoves and sinks. In total, there were probably around six. In the back of the room was a place for dishes and a locked case displaying knives and other hazardous kitchen utensils that could potentially harm students. There were two fire extinguishers attached to the walls, one on each side of the room as well as a large fire bell. What? They were expecting people to set fire to the building?

"This is the Kitchen Ed. classroom," Bronwyn cheerfully declared. "Personally, this is one of my favorite classes other than band. I play the flute."

"She's really good," Andy murmured quietly behind the group, almost as if he was scared to say it. That made Leo smirk. Love must be floating through the air in this school.

"Are you in band?" Leo asked him.

He bit his lip, looking rather awkward and uncomfortable. Not much of a talker, he guessed. "I never wanted to be, but my parent's forced me. They claimed I was spending too much time alone in the library. Making me sign up for band was their idea to 'broaden my horizons'."

"Dude, my condolences," Leo laughed. "What instrument do you play?"

"The triangle," he murmured back.

"Well that's easy enough," Leo offered trying to hide a chuckle. Poor kid.

Trent grinned. "Hey, how about when you played in the marching band for football that one year? That drum looked simple enough to play."

Andy blushed and gave him a death glare. "Shut it, Shaw! I doubt you would even be able to keep a steady beat with the thing!"

"Guys!" Bronwyn declared, obviously annoyed with her friends. "This is a school orientation, not an argument contest! Can we just continue with the tour before we run out of time? Principal Wells wants us done by three."

The two snapped back into shape, their shoulders slouched. "Sorry," they said in unison. Leo was beginning to understand she was the one enforcing the peace in their group somewhat like Piper or Hazel.

She then nodded and grabbed onto Leo's arm to drag him off to the next classroom across the hall. "This is the LA class. Ms. Richards is the teacher here. She's old and cranky and for some reason is obsessed with assigning everyone story-long essays every week. It sucks."

"Whoa, seriously?" Leo choked. This was some crazy bad news for him. Not only did he have a horrible attention span, but he struggled with dyslexia, though not as bad as Percy. Leo's never once gotten anything above a C on his English homework in his _life._ "What happens if you can't complete one in time?"

Trent made a face. "You have to write a quote she chooses for you one hundred times on the board in front of the whole class while she teaches."

"You've got to be kidding me." Leo was ready to die of humiliation already just thinking of himself standing there in that position. He knew he would be at least once.

"Yup," Bronwyn said. "She's very old-school. Oh, and I suggest you raise your hand if you need to say something."

"I don't know about you guys, but this lady sounds as if she's over a century."

They all laughed, Leo only half into it. Seriously. He was in trouble.

As they continued their tour, Bronwyn said, "So tell us a little more about yourself. How old are you? Where did you grow up?"

He wiped his nose. "I'm sixteen. I grew up in Houston, Texas."

"Cool," Trent nodded. "They probably get better whether down there, don't they?"

Leo smirked. "The best. Sun shines all the time."

Leo suddenly felt a wave of nostalgia flow through him at the thought of his life before. He remembered being a small seven-year-old running down the street from the bus stop with only one place in mind: the machine shop. He would burst through the door and throw his backpack on the floor of the backroom where his mom would be busy at work. He'd jump into her arms and she would squeeze him tight in a bear hug. Laughter always followed. There were always questions about how school went and what he learned that day. He'd answer them while putting on his very own tool belt _Mamá_ had bought for him and hopped up onto one of the benches. Naturally, because she was still his mother, _Mamá_ would scold him and tell him to run upstairs and change into his work clothes. Man, he'd hated doing it, but now the memory only made him smile sadly. That was such a long time ago.

"Dude? Are you okay?"

He snapped his attention back to Trent, who, as well as the others, was looking at him like there was something wrong with him.

"Oh, yeah. Sorry. I-I was just remembering something. What about you guys?" he asked, quickly turning the attention on them.

Trent was glad to go first. "I live only a few blocks away from here in one of the bigger neighborhoods. Lived there my whole seventeen years of my life."

"Really?" he asked, somewhat amazed. Leo couldn't imagined staying in one place so long.

"Really. And if you think that's bad, I'm an only child too."

Leo stuck his bottom lip out and nodded. "I see, I see. I've experienced that. Glad it's over."

"What does that mean?"

"Nothing," he quickly pushed it aside. "What about you two?"

Bronwyn went next. "My mom's a fashion designer for a magazine. I'm sixteen as well. I also have two older sisters, Bernadette, and Brazil, one of which is grown and married with a family already. My dad, as I told you, lives at Long Island. He's a taxi driver."

"You have a sister named Brazil?" he asked with a slightly perplexed expression. "Can I ask where she lives?" he chuckled.

"Here in Yonkers."

Leo felt himself frown a little. What a disappointment.

Bronwyn continued. "My mom's the kind of person who loves making things stand out, hence her career. Giving us girls names unique like that is just the way she rolls, you know? And with the whole naming us all with the letter B..." she laughed. "You know, sometimes, I think she did that that so she wouldn't forget our names. Her job keeps her pretty busy."

Leo looked at her for a moment in thought. "Interesting stuff." He then face Andy. "How 'bout you? What's your story?"

"I'm sixteen. I have three dogs," Andy offered. "Other than that, I have only my parents. I don't mind though. It means I get a room for myself to study."

"Is that all you like doing?" Leo asked, flabbergasted. "I mean, no offense or anything, but don't you get out of the house?"

"I do," he said quietly, sounding a little hesitant. He tried again. "Yes, just not to places many people my age go."

"Such as?"

"I already said the library, the science center... Places like that."

Leo laughed at him. "I think you need to check some other places out, man. Who goes to the library?"

"People who enjoy learning," he answered. "Don't you ever go there? Ever?"

He snickered. "When I was little, but I never liked that atmosphere. I've got dyslexia and ADHD, man. That's like... the worst place for a person like me. It would be like placing an emo at a tea party. No thanks."

They laughed.

"Where do you come up with those crazy analogies?" Bronwyn asked.

He shrugged with a smirk. "I'm ADHD. I don't know myself where things like that come from."

She tilted her head. "Well I like them."

"Thanks."

They checked out a few other classes in the school, talking as they went. The rooms all had pretty much the same layout which made the tour slightly boring, but the conversation felt rather nice. After everything that has been going on, it was a breath of fresh air to find some comfort in possible new friends. The three of them seemed really cool. Leo had to keep reminding himself though that they will probably only be temporary. If he was to leave, chances were, they wouldn't see each other again. Well, maybe Bronwyn because of her dad living at Long Island, but even that seemed unlikely. He'd be spending most of his time at Camp Half-Blood.

They finished their tour in almost exactly an hour. When they reached the principal's office again, Alice and Principal Wells were still talking at his desk. Leo wasn't sure what they would be talking about for such a long amount of time if most things school-related were discussed when he was in there with them. Then again, he was new to this school. Principal Wells probably had questions to ask Alice about him, which wouldn't be surprising. Leo had had a pretty colorful past, so to speak, and he was sure the principal was hesitant about him in some ways.

Soon enough though, as Leo and the three students talked in the waiting room, Alice and Principal Wells came out with smiles on their faces.

"Ah, good!" Principal Wells declared. "You're all finished. I was just about to come get you. How was the tour?"

"Informative," Leo answered.

"Wonderful. And I hope everything went well with the four of you."

"Never better, Principle Wells," Bronwyn smiled. "It was really great meeting Leo, wasn't it, guys?"

The two boys nodded with agreement.

"I'm glad to hear it," Principal Wells said. "Now, as I told you, school starts next Monday, so we'll see you again then."

"Cool," Leo nodded and faced his fellow schoolmates. "And it's been cool meeting you guys."

They smiled at him.

"I'm so pleased everything is working out," Alice stated with an appeased tone. "We should probably head out though. We don't want to make you late for your meeting."

"Oh, no worries," Principal Wells said. "I still have a little time. But I'm very pleased to meet you, Leo, and look forward seeing you when school starts."

"Yup. Later," he waved.

With the meeting over, he and Alice walked back down the halls towards the front doors they had entered from. The walked into the autumn breeze, the sun hiding behind a large white cloud. Alice unlocked the car again and they both climbed in.

As she pulled out from her parking stall, she looked over at him with a wide smile. "So, everything went well then?"

"I don't see how it could've gone bad."

"Oh, I'm so happy. I'm sure you'll love coming to school here. And you even made some new friends. That's got to be exciting, right?"

He rested his head on the headrest. "I guess."

"Bronnie is such a nice girl, isn't she?"

He furrowed his eyebrows. "Who?"

"Bronnie," she repeated. Then she chuckled. "Oh, I'm sorry, dear. That's one of Bronwyn's nicknames she likes going by. Sometimes people call her Bronnie, other call her Ronnie. Her sisters call her Winnie."

"You must know these people really well," he commented with surprise.

She stopped at a stop sign and looked both ways before proceeding. "I know more about Bronwyn's family than the others. Jacob was good friends with her family."

 _Jacob?_ Leo thought to himself slightly confused. Then he remembered about her late husband. "Oh."

Alice let out a small sigh and remained silent for the rest of the ride back, giving Leo a time to think about everything that had gone on that afternoon.

He really hoped things went alright for the time he was here.

* * *

 **Did you like this chapter? What about the four new characters? I had fun creating them. :)  
**

 **YOU** **CHOOSE: So as you guys already know, this is the part where you get to choose what happens next! Yay! :D I'll let you guys come up with some suggestions, though I will remind you, I _might_ not use them if they interrupt with the main plot. I'll try my best though to fit it in somewhere if I like it enough though. :) I'm curious to know what you guys will suggest. Let me know in reviews or PMs! **

**Thanks for reading. :)**

 **Peace out, my readerers...  
**

 **~supworld~**


	8. Bruno

**First off, I want to apologize for taking forever. Second, I want to say get ready for chapter 8! Yippy! It's finally here!**

 **Reviews:**

Hanakoori13: **Thanks for the review! :) Bronwyn is a character, isn't she? In truth, I don't feel happy with that last chapter. It took sooooo long for me to write because of so many distractions and it affected it. Part of the problem, I think, was that I just wanted to get it posted and out of my hair. I see what you are talking about though and I enjoy the feedback. :) Always good to learn and grow. But honestly, I knew already that Leo was very much OOC in chapter 7. I can have off days, I guess. XD (And yes, I do choose to reply this way. It's easier for me I guess, especially when I get guest reviews I want to answer. IDK. I like doing it this way for whatever reason.)**

RosettaQueen20: **Thank you so much! I wanted to write something different that hasn't been done before and I'm glad people are enjoying it. :D Once more, in the case of Alice, there are plans! o_O**

 **Again, sorry for the really OOC Leo and other characters in the last chapter. How can you tell I just wanted to post the darn thing? I did fix the smallest of things in the last chapter just recently though. You could take a look if you want. Again, nothing major in the slightest.**

 **WARNINGS:** **MENTIONS OF ANIMAL CRUELTY** **  
**

 **SHOUT OUT!  
Anyone you recognize from the PJO and HoO series are not mine. You have my word.**

* * *

 **~Leo's POV~**

"Would either of you like a coffee?" Alice asked Mr. and Mrs. Thompson as she set a plate of freshly-baked cookies on the living room table.

"Oh, that would be lovely, Alice, though I think a cup of tea would do just fine," Mrs. Thompson smiled politely.

"Sounds good. What about you Jeremy? Tea? Coffee?"

"Coffee sounds perfect, thank you."

She nodded. "Leo?"

He shook his head and tucked his legs in Indian-style and sunk back into the couch, trying to feel somewhat invisible.

"Alright then. You three get acquainted. I'll be back with the beverages soon," and she left them on their own.

"So," Mrs. Thompson started after a little while. "You're sixteen are you?"

"Last I checked," he murmured trying hard to hide his discomfort.

"That's a good age. I remember back when I was sixteen. Some of my most favorite memories were when I was still in my youthful years. As you can see," she chuckled, "that was quite a while ago."

A fake smile came to his lips. He didn't want to be sitting here talking to a of couple strangers. He didn't want to pretend he was enjoying his time. Nonetheless, Alice thought it was a good idea to invite her neighbors over to meet him. Apparently she and this elderly couple have become pretty close friends since her husband died. As sorry as he was that she has been a widow for four years now, and the couple sitting in front of him did seem nice, he didn't know why she was so insistent that they meet him. Honestly, he didn't care who was living in the next house over. He was still trying to get used to living in _this_ house. Still, he had to sit and tolerate whatever she had planned for the evening. Hopefully it wouldn't last too long.

"And what are your interests?" Mrs. Thompson asked. "You look like you could have a very intelligent mind."

"Building. Fixing things," he answered, short and sweet. Again, the less information, the better. And really? _An intelligent mind_?

"Oh, you hear that, Jeremy?" she asked grabbing onto her husband's arm. "He fixes things! Isn't that wonderful?"

"Yes, yes," the bald man nodded. He wore a pleased grin. "Indeed."

Mrs. Thompson turned back to Leo. "Are you going to college for engineering then? Oh, how exciting!"

Dude. What was their problem? They were acting as if he was a small child or even their own grandchild for Zeus's sake.

"Don't know," he said truthfully. "Depends. I might blow the teachers away with my amazing brain skills."

The couple chuckled.

"Well, my boy, I must say it's great to see such great confidence and will-power in a young man like yourself," Mr. Thompson declared. "Most teenagers these days ignore their work and sit in front of those televisions and play on their X-boxes all day. Then there's the situation with them making a ruckus on the streets like a bunch of monkeys. I dare say! The other day I saw a group of them riding their skateboards through the neighborhood while screaming for whatever reason I don't know. This was all at ten at night, mind you."

Leo couldn't help but smirk. It was probably something they wouldn't find being a proper response after talking about such a topic, but really? He could just imagine the scene. Yeah. People were idiots sometimes, but hey, you only live once... well, in most cases. He and Hazel were exceptions.

"Ah," Mr. Thompson griped with a wave of the hand. "They were probably intoxicated."

"Dear," his wife interrupted. "That was a month ago. You can let it go."

"Maybe so, but I say their parents should be keeping a better watch on them teenagers these days. You never know what happens when they're outside of the house."

"Dear," she repeated.

"Oh, trust me, Steph, what I've seen out there was shocking. The other day I saw maybe four teenagers, one being a young woman, throwing eggs at someones car! Boy, I tell you when the owner came out of the store he was right upset. And they didn't even stop to apologize! They ran off like a, like a... they just ran!"

"Jeremy, I don't think this is the proper time to be discussing this."

"And you know what the worst part of it is?" he continued. "I believe the person that owned that car wasn't even someone they knew! They just threw those eggs at a strangers car! I can imagine them egging their _friend's_ car, but they didn't! They just threw those eggs at some stranger!"

Mrs. Thompson smiled back at Leo with a flustered expression. "Do you play a lot of sports?"

Once he was sure the two were done their little argument, he answered. "Er... not the kind you guys are probably used to, but sure." Of course, he was referring to the sports they play at camp. Not the regular mortal games they play during gym time.

"Oh? And what are those?"

Gods, this felt like an interview. "Pft. Their complicated. I'll be doing you a favor by keeping them to myself. I guess one you could compare them with is Karate but even that doesn't explain it well."

Her eyebrows raised a little with shock. "Oh. You do martial arts?"

"Not really, no. As I said, it's complicated."

She nodded with understanding."I see. So what are you plans then for the summer? You have a job?"

Trying hard not to roll his eyes with her ongoing questions, he let out a small sigh. "Nope. I'll just be hanging around."

Mrs. Thompson suddenly pointed a her finger at him with a serious expression. He began to feel uneasy. "You know what? I think I just remembered a garage that was hiring downtown. It would be the perfect job if you like fixing things. Jeremy? Do you know what shop I'm thinking of? The one with the bright red sign?"

The couple looked at each other. Mr. Thompson just shrugged. "No."

"Oh, yes you do. The garage with the sign above the door."

And the prize for worlds best description goes to...

"No," he repeated. "I don't remember any garage."

"Jeremy, you don't mean to tell me you forgot already?" she questioned with surprise. "Dear, you were the one who pointed it out."

"I was?"

"Yes."

Mr. Thompson paused a moment scratching his chin in thought. At this time, Leo was trying hard not to get up and leave. This couple was unreal. Just agree on something already.

"No," Mr. Thompson declared once more. "That was the place back on 53rd. That, er, what was it? Gas station? Was it a gas station?"

"No, darling, it was a garage."

"No."

"Yes, dear. I remember it specifically. It was only just yesterday we saw it."

"No. Was it?"

Okay, he could barely take it any longer. Who wanted to sit and listen to an elderly couple disagree with one another? They could literally go all night.

"Oh, wait a minute..." the old man muttered. "Yes. Yes, I think I know what you're talking about now. That ol' Merner and Son's Auto Repair?"

Mrs. Thompson smiled. "Yes, Jeremy. That's the one. Have you seen it downtown, Leo?"

Hoping things would actually progress, he readjusted himself on the couch. "I've never lived here so I'm gonna have to say no. I'll be sure to look for the bright red sign above a door next time I'm out though," he smirked.

Just then, Alice came back with two steaming mugs in her hands.

 _Thank the gods! Save me from these people!_ Leo thought.

Handing out the ordered beverages, Alice smiled. "There you two go. How are things going so far?"

"Oh just wonderful," Mrs. Thompson declared with a cheery grin with her tea in her possession. "We were just talking about that Merner and Son's garage. They're hiring you know."

"Is that right?"

"Yes, yes, and I suggested that Leo have a look down there. He mentioned he enjoyed fixing things."

Alice gave him a look as she placed her hand on his shoulder gently. "That sounds like a wonderful idea. Maybe the two of us could check it out."

Another fake smile came to his lips. "Oh. Yeah. Great. Maybe."

Mrs. Thompson took a sip of her tea with shaky hands. "And I also heard you met some of those students from the high school. Which ones? Brent and Andrew? What are their names?"

"Trent, Andy, and Bronwyn," he corrected. Here they go again. Leo had been asked so many questions about them since he had had that orientation yesterday it was crazy. Alice seemed over-the-moon excited for him for some odd reason. It was only the first day and they could hardly be considered friends at this stage. More like acquaintances. Also, which made him feel rather awkward, she kept bringing up Bronwyn, saying how nice of a girl she was. In truth, although she did seem nice, he almost felt like she was almost too... clingy? That wasn't really the word he was looking for but it could work. He hadn't said anything to her but he was thinking it in the back of his head. Maybe Bronwyn was just trying to be nice. She was easy to talk to. Either way, he wasn't letting it bother him too much.

After repeating the same answers for all the questions he's been asked by Alice, their conversation finally drifted to a different topic. He was glad, but it lasted for another two hours, which was torture. Leo sat on the couch pretending to be engaged when in fact he was daydreaming about being back at camp. What was everyone doing at that moment? Were the campers gathering up for evening games? What game were they playing tonight? How much was he missing out on by being held prisoner here? How much of the legal papers were still left to do? And most importantly, how was Calypso holding up? He hadn't been in contact with his friends since he Iris messaged Annabeth. Now he was eager to touch base with them.

Thankfully, after an hour more, the elderly couple decided it was getting late. They broke conversation and made their way to the door. Alice and Leo followed.

Watching them put their shoes on, Mrs. Thompson looked up at him with her pointed finger again. "And you make sure to check that garage out before the job's taken. I'm sure it will be the perfect suit for you."

"Maybe," was all he could say. In his head he was thinking, _No thanks._ Getting a job here in Yonkers would make this new reality feel permanent. He couldn't just run away. A job was another rope holding him down and he wanted to avoid that. If he wasn't mistaken, he was actually trying to _escape_ this place.

"You tell us if you get it if you ever decide to apply," she grinned and let Mr. Thompson open the door for her.

Leo offered a small smile and watched as they walked through the door into the night air.

Alice grinned at him, clearly pleased with how the evening went. "So, how do you feel? Mr. and Mrs. Thompson are such lovely people. Before I got to know them well enough, they were so lonely. Their kids are all grown and moved away with their own families." She sighed. "I'm just glad we live next door to them. They're good company."

The highlight of the last part of her statement made him want to groan out loud. She included the two of them, both him and her, living next door to these people. There was nothing more unsettling than being reminded, once _again_ , that he was now actually _living_ here.

"Now," Alice went on, readjusting a loose bobby pin from her bun. "I thought maybe we could relax and watch a movie. I could even pop some popcorn and grab a couple cans of soda. What do you say?"

As politely as he could, he shook his head and declined her offer. "Thanks, but I think I'll turn in for the night. I'm pretty tired."

She nodded with understanding. "I can imagine. Yes. You get your rest. I'll see you in the morning. Rest well, dear."

With another meaningless smile, probably tallying up to a hundred at this point, he escaped downstairs and closed himself in his room. Although it was actually early enough - the clock reading 9:45 pm - he _was_ getting tired, but the reason for his quick descent to his room was actually for a much more important excuse than rest. He still had four more drachmas left and at least one of those was being reserved for Calypso.

He dug in his pocket where he had stashed it early that morning, and locked his door. Then, just as another precaution, he closed and locked the bathroom door as well.

"Oh, Fleesy. Do me a solid. Show me Calypso back at camp," he muttered over the sound of running water.

As he watched a misty cloud gradually take shape in front of him, he smiled when he caught sight of his amazing girlfriend. She was sitting at the beach in the dark all by herself, staring out into the endless blue. A small breeze brushed her face, sending strands blowing over her delicate sun-kissed skin. From the looks of it, she must have just recently placed herself here as she had her pajamas on: a pair of running shorts and an over-sized T-shirt. Gods, she looked beautiful right now.

"Hey, sunshine," he called out.

A little yelp escaped her lips in the most adorable fashion as she turned to his voice in shock. Her eyes grew big and multiple expressions crossed her face. "Leo!"

He laughed at her. "Whatcha doing here on the beach at ten at night? The harpies won't be very happy if they ever find you."

"No, no, I'm fine here," she panted, trying to calm herself from her previous fright. "I'm at the small beach in the woods right now. You know? The one nearest the boarder of camp?"

He nodded knowing exactly where she was. Very few campers actually knew there was a small clearing deep in the woods near the boarder. It was right along the water with sand and a hallow log and everything, just like a minuscule beach. He and Calypso usually met there whenever they wanted a private place away from all the noise from the other campers. They joked that it was their little getaway paradise. They even named it the C&L Resort. Some of the only other campers who knew about that place was Piper and Jason. In fact, both they and Leo were the first ones to find it, however, his friends didn't seem to come here very often. They spent more time on the public beach, which was fine with Leo. He and his girlfriend used the resort regularly.

"You up for a little visit then?" he asked her. "You look stunning tonight by the way."

She blushed a little and tucked her knees up to her chest. "Of course I'm up for a visit. I've been longing to talk with you ever since you got taken away. How are things over there?"

"Do you mind if I ask you what's going on over there first? I'm kind of getting tired of having to talk about life here in Yonkers," he muttered, saying Yonkers in a funny voice. "Alice has been driving me crazy with questions about how I'm settling in."

"Alright," she agreed. "What are you looking to hear? The documents?"

"Mmm..." he squinted in thought. "No. Something else. How's the weather over there?" he smirked.

Rolling her eyes at him, Calypso smirked back. "Perfect as always thanks to camp's magic."

"Ah, got to love that shield."

"Yup."

"Did you guys play any new games tonight?"

"I don't know if it's new for you guys, but it was for me. Of course I didn't play it, but I overheard the rules. Basically, each cabin was a team, except for Percy. He joined the Ares team. There are five flags set up in the woods for each individual team to gather. The team to find and take all five back first, win. Of course though, there are the monsters to get past."

Leo groaned. "Really? They only decide to play that game when I'm not even there? They haven't done that one in ages."

She shrugged making her T-shirt slide off her shoulder a little. "I guess tonight was the night."

"Who won?"

"Surprisingly, the Apollo cabin did. Kayla pretty much brought them all to glory. There was a lot of cheering."

"And you said you didn't play with them? Why not? Girl, you're missing out."

Calypso drifted her eyes away and stared at the sand. "I guess I wasn't really in the mood."

Automatically, Leo knew something was wrong. She rarely lowered her gaze in that manner. Besides, she loved the games.

"Cal," he murmured gently. "Are you alright?"

The waves of the water and the random cricket chirping in the background was the perfect backdrop for her silence. She simply sat with no movement, staring at the grains of sand.

Suddenly, Leo felt as if he was visiting a scene from back on Ogygia. Calypso was sitting in the dead of night on her beach under the stars, waiting for her recent love to return, only to know they would never come back for her. He could sense the abandonment, the heart-ache, the isolation. This was probably what she did every night for over the course of three thousand years. Although he understood the loneliness and hurt only too well, he couldn't imagine living with it for such a long time.

"I'm not that far away you know," he said quietly in a reassuring tone. "A little over an hour's drive can be all it takes."

She looked up at him. "I know. It's just... Even if I did come to see you, you still wouldn't be able to come back to camp. You wouldn't be able to come home. I don't want to have to travel to see you all the time. I have had _enough_ of waiting to see the person I love. I want to know you'll be right here when I need you the most."

"I suppose Iris messaging can help with that, but..."

"Yes, but that's not the same," she argued. "I want you _here_ _with me_. In _person_. Don't you want that too?"

"Of course. Trust me, Calypso, you have no idea how much I want out of this place. I legit feel like a dog. As soon as I was brought in, everyone wants to meet me and introduce me to their friends and their friends' friends, etc. I went to a private school orientation yesterday to check out the place where I'll be enrolled. The students I met there were fine and all - nice even, but I feel like a show dog. Everyone is almost too cheery and excepting. We even had the next door neighbors over for tea just a little while ago and they wouldn't stop talking about me. Sad thing is, I'm all too familiar with all this and I'm _sick_ of it."

Calypso gave him a sympathetic look. "Leo, I -"

"No. Don't you dare pity me. It's just reality. If you want to do something on your end, then get me the hell out of here. Have Chiron come in and do what he's needed to do. Just don't pity me. I've survived a lot worse."

He took a breath to collect himself again and leaned on the bathroom cupboard to run his hands through his hair. He looked up again. "How about the documents while I'm talking about them."

Leo watched her swallow and bite her lip, almost as if she was nervous. "Babe, I first want you to know how hard we've been working on them. We've put everything we've got into them, even me and I don't know anything about computers or legal papers."

His brows furrowed with concern. "Where's this going?"

"Thing is, while we were working on them yesterday, we noticed things weren't exactly lining up like they should have been."

"Wait, what? Why?"

"Annabeth and Chiron were looking it over to double-check some things and realized things had got mixed up and left out. We had to stop our progress on writing anything new until we went back and fixed the mistakes."

"Oh, yeah? And how many are there? Two? Three? _Please_ don't tell me there were any more than that," he pleaded with her, crossing his fingers with both hands.

She offered him the news he was hoping not to get. "We've had to lay out everything over again pretty much. We were focused on that for the entire day yesterday and it's still not done yet. Close, but we can't move on until everything is lined up properly again."

"Gods!" he moaned. "How long am I going to have to wait now? That just set you guys back two days! Maybe more!"

"I know, but we're trying hard to fix it. We were at the computer for two extra hours yesterday and today. Tomorrow we should be continuing on with the new stuff."

He sighed and thought a moment, leaving her to sit in the silence. "Okay. So at least they're gonna keep moving forward."

"We're going to try to keep them that way."

"Good," he muttered. "Let's talk about something else. I'm getting depressed."

For an hour-and-a-half they talked more about the happenings of Camp Half-Blood. Apparently the Hephaestus cabin was slightly disorganized now that he was gone, but Jake and Nyssa were trying their best to keep everything under control. The Aphrodite gang are all working hard on decorating their cabin inside-out after taking on a bet with the Demeter kids to see who's cabin was better. It's quite the amusement for the entire camp from the sounds of it. Even Piper was in on it when she had the free time away from the computer. Last but not least, Percy has been attempting to take on Annabeth's intelligent mind by spurting off random facts and sounding all smart and brainy just to tease her. This has been lasting for almost two full days now. Campers are apparently knocking their heads on the walls trying to get him to stop but there isn't improvement with that.

Yup. Just the regular happenings at that amazing camp of theirs. Gods, Leo missed home.

Soon enough, with the amount of time that passed, they both agreed it was time to say goodnight as much as they hated to. Leo's eyelids were already starting to close on him.

"I'll talk to you soon, okay?" Leo assured her with a wink. "I want to see those beautiful eyes again."

"Cheese ball," she smirked. "I'd like that though. Don't make me wait too long."

"I won't. I love you, sunshine."

"I love you too, repair boy. Goodnight."

"Sweet dreams, primarily about me."

She rolled her eyes again with a grin. "'Night, Leo."

And with one last smile, he swiped his fingers through the mist, losing sight of the girl of his dreams.

He was suddenly back in the small bathroom in Yonkers, NY at 11:30 at night. Everything went silent when the distant sound of the water and crickets had faded away with the mist, leaving him to himself. Even the creaking of the floor from Alice's footsteps from upstairs had stopped. She must have gone to bed herself.

He looked at himself in the mirror above the sink. His eyes were bloodshot and he looked just about as tired as he felt. Even though the documents were almost at a complete stand-still, he had to hope they would be finished soon. How he wished he was back at camp. Maybe it was a bad idea to call his girlfriend to ask about it. His homesickness was only getting worse. The only possible escape from the immediate whole in his heart would be sleep. Seeing how tired he was, it was worth a shot.

Unlocking the door, Leo entered his room again and changed into his pajamas. Then, after turning off the light, he crawled under the blankets and shut his eyes. He fell asleep almost immediately, though only for a nightmare to welcome him into slumber.

* * *

Leo was walking back from school with a group of his old friends. Even though they were around the same age as him, Leo was significantly smaller - small enough for someone to believe he was only nine rather than eleven. He got bullied for it rather often, kids calling him a midget and so on, but he learned to deal with it. Thankfully, when his friends were around though, they would find ways to step in and take the other kids down. He was grateful for them even if he did feel embarrassed they had to get involved.

They were talking with one another. In his hands, Leo twisted a pair of pipe-cleaners into an animal, and not just a simple outline, but an actual 3D creature. He was taking requests and working hard on accomplishing them.

From his side, Ryan grinned. "Hey! You're good at this!"

"Thanks," Leo smiled back.

"Where did you learn?"

With a shrug, he twisted another wire into shape. "I just play around. I don't usually have much to do in the evenings."

"Cool. You should teach me."

Leo handed him the completed dinosaur he had just created and grabbed two more pipe-cleaners from his backpack. "What do you want me to make next?"

Dylan, riding the back of the group called out, "Make a giraffe!"

"A giraffe? Nah."

"How 'bout a monkey?" William asked on the other side of him. "A gorilla."

He nodded. "Sure."

They talked more about whatever middle-school kids talked about all the while Leo was keeping his hands busy. At first, he was simply trying to keep his nerves down about going back home to Miss Teresa, but then it turned into something a little less stressful thanks to his friends. Often times, he'd break out into a mild anxiety attack just thinking about going back to the prison he called home. Because of that, he made excuses why he couldn't walk home with the rest of his friends. He usually waited until they went ahead, claiming that the teachers liked having him help clean the wipe boards or something. Then he would slowly make his way home on his own once they were out of sight so they didn't witness any nervous breakdowns. Today though, he had felt a little pressured to join them. He was glad he packed a bunch of piper-cleaners to keep him calm.

A little sooner than he'd wished, they reached the street Leo lived on. He slowed his pace as his friends talked with one another, shrinking to the back of the group. By no means was he rushing back to that demon. Pretending to be in great focus, he continued to twist and turn the wires of the pipe-cleaners into the desired shape. Really though, he was trying hard to think of a plan to walk into the house without being heard. Usually, when Miss Teresa didn't hear him, she didn't bother looking for him.

"Leo!" a sharp female voice barked from up ahead. "Leo Valdez! You get over here right now!"

There was a first for everything, he guessed.

Looking up, he noticed his friends had stopped talking. They looked back at him. Dylan pointed his thumb behind his shoulder. "That's your mom, right?"

"No," he quickly corrected him.

"Foster mom, sorry. She seems pretty upset. You pull _another_ trick on her?" he smirked, falling for the previous lies Leo had been telling them.

Forcing a guilty smile, he shrugged. "Yeah. Maybe I should cut them down a bit."

"Good idea. I don't think she likes them very much."

"Leo!" she yelled again. "I see you standing there with you friends! Don't ignore me! Come here when I'm talking to you!"

"Dude," William muttered. "You better go before she gives you a whipping. Parents do that when you make them wait. We'll see you tomorrow, 'kay?"

"Yeah, okay. See you..." he murmured, his hands already starting to shake. Standing in place, he watched as his friends crossed the street and headed towards Ryan's neighborhood. They were talking once again, already forgetting about the friend they left to the mercy of the unforgivable beast.

"Leo are you even listening to me?!"

He pulled his attention to his foster mom standing on the front porch. Her hands were on her hips and she did _not_ look pleased with him. Forcing himself to move, he hung his head low and hurried her way. Extra punishment came if he created a scene out in public.

Immediately, after just barely climbing the porch steps, a painful grip tightened around his arm and he was thrown inside. He fell to the ground, losing the pipe-cleaner gorilla from his hands and landed on the floor. The door was shut and he felt Miss Teresa grab him again. Pulling him to his feet, she yanked his backpack off him and threw it to the side.

Not a word was said as she began dragging him to the kitchen, which almost made it feel even more terrifying. She pulled open the patio door and continued to forcefully lead him out and down the back porch steps. He had no idea what this was all about, but it was surely nothing good.

She brought him directly in front of a deep hole dug into the ground just beneath a damaged board on their fence. There were claw marks in the edges of the hole.

Pointing a finger to the mess, she said in a deadly strict tone, "You see that? What do you think happened?"

He stared down at the hole knowing how much trouble he was in. "I-I don't know," he lied.

"Was that you?"

"No, ma'am," he answered truthfully.

"It wasn't?"

"No."

She nodded calmly for a moment and then asked another question. "How about your little four-legged friend then? Was it him?"

Even though he knew he was giving his secret friend away, he looked up at Miss Teresa pleadingly. "Miss Teresa, please don't hurt him! He didn't mean to! He just wanted to play! Please! He didn't know! I know he won't do it again! He won't!"

"You've got that right," she said coldly. Then, grabbing him by the arm again, she pulled him towards the shed and fussed with the lock. Leo began to panic.

"Miss Teresa!" he cried. "No! Don't! Please! I won't let him do it again, I swear! Don't lock me in there!"

"Oh, shut up!" she snarled at him. The door swung open and he stopped fighting against her in shock. There, before his eyes was the stray dog he had befriended only a few days ago. The chocolate lab was tied up and hiding in the far corner behind a sack of fertilizer. He whined with fear as soon as he saw Miss Teresa and shrunk back even further, his head laid on his front paws. Even the dog was afraid of this monster.

"I found him not even a full hour ago digging up my backyard," Miss Teresa growled. "Unfortunately for the two of you, it isn't the first time I've seen him here."

Wait, when has she seen Leo playing with Bruno?

She stared down at the cowering dog with a hate-filled glare. "This is your fault, Leo. You brought him here, and now you are going take care of him."

Not wanting to ask but feeling he had no choice, he looked up at her. "H-how? What are you talking about, Miss Teresa?"

She made eye contact with him. "Get in the car."

"Why? Miss Teresa, what are you going to do with him?"

"I said, get in the car!" she snapped at him.

Taking a last glance at his new friend hiding in the corner, Leo backed away with tears in his eyes and ran to the car parked in the front. There was a deep pit of guilt in his stomach. He tried so hard to keep the dog a secret, and already, only three days after they befriended each other, Bruno ruined her yard. It wasn't his idea that Bruno followed him home. He didn't even know he had been trotting behind him. Now Miss Teresa was going to punish him and Leo for making a mess in the backyard.

Leo closed himself in the backseat of the car and tucked his legs up to his chest. A short while after, he saw his foster mother dragging Bruno by the leash towards the car. In her other hand, she carried a small item wrapped up in a towel.

Opening the back door, Miss Teresa forced Bruno in with Leo before taking a seat behind the wheel. As she began driving away, Bruno huddled up close to him and laid his head on his lap. Leo stroked his head tenderly, trying to comfort him. They both knew something was about to happen and they were both just as terrified.

They drove for a while in silence. Leo noticed the city was slowly being left behind as Miss Teresa drove further into the countryside. Eventually, she made a turn on a side road where there were trees hovering over either side. She went further and further in until it felt as if they were in the middle of nowhere. She pulled off to the side and parked.

"Get out," she muttered and grabbed the item in the towel again. Leo listened to her, taking the dog with him. She led the way a distance from the car and into a clearing of trees where she stopped and faced him. "Tie the dog to that tree."

"Why?" he asked. "What are you going to do to him?"

"Oh, I'm not doing anything. Now tie him up. Now!"

Leo slowly led Bruno by the leash toward the tree she had pointed to. The chocolate lab matched his pace with its tail between its hind legs. Once he was tied, Leo faced her again. She unwrapped the item from the towel she had brought. Tears immediately filled his eyes at what he saw.

"No," he sobbed. "No! Don't do it! Bruno didn't mean it! Please, Miss Teresa! No..."

She raised an eyebrow at him. "I said I'm not doing anything. You are," and she offered him the knife. "That dog will only cause more troubles and you were the one who brought him here. _You_ are going to take care of this mutt. Now take it!"

He sobbed again, but managed to stand his ground. "Please, Miss Teresa! He won't do it again! Please don't make me do it! Please..."

"NOW!" she shouted the with knife held out for him to take it. "DO IT!"

Reluctantly, even though he was trying hard to fight against her, he sluggishly shuffled towards it. He didn't want to do it, but he feared he would be the one in trouble if he didn't listen. His tears were hot against his cheeks as he sobbed. Still, knowing the danger it would cause him as well, he made himself grab the knife from her. Through his blurry vision, he stared down at the cold metalic utensil with disgust. He hated himself for what he was about to do. Most of all though, he hated Miss Teresa, but he couldn't back down.

Leo looked behind at his good friend Bruno tied helplessly to the tree. His head hung low and his tail hidden between his legs, knowing what was to come. Somehow, Leo knew Bruno wasn't upset with him though. He almost looked as if he was allowing him, showing that he forgave him for whatever he was being forced to do. As much as it should have been reassuring, it only made it harder. Leo's heart hurt.

Holding back another sob, Leo took a step towards him. It had to be quick.

* * *

 **Sorry about the depressing end, but you know, Miss Teresa was no angel.**

 **I'll try to make quicker updates. It has been insanely long since I posted a new chapter for this story.**

 **Look out for chapter 9!**

 **~supworld~**


	9. A Walk Through the Neighborhood

**Okay, so I'm back after how long? I don't even know anymore. I want to let you guys all know that I don't have a regular computer or even a phone to work on at the moment so updates will probably be quite spaced out. I hate computer problems, but I'll try my best to update my stories the best I can. DX I'm gonna have to ask you to please have patience. That's all I can say. :( Oh and I changed my name to** supworld-iss-tiger. **Yup. That's me. ^_^** **  
**

 **Reviews:**

LonelySkeleton01: **Thanks so much. :) Yeah. The poor pooch.  
**

Guest: **I really love getting reviews telling me to update my stories because it shows people are enjoying them.** **:D** **However, if you read my author's note above, I have computer issues I need to work out at the moment. Please just hold on there, my friend. DX Hopefully you'll enjoy this next chapter. ;)**  


 **WARNINGS:** **SWEARING, MENTIONS OF MATURE THEME ( _extremely_ small mention), RACISM, MENTIONS OF ANIMAL ABUSE, PTSD  
**

 **SHOUT OUT!  
I own Alice Hammel and all others you do no recognize as PJO or HoO characters.**

* * *

 **~Leo's POV~  
**

Leo was glad to be alone. Like, _actually_ alone. This had pretty much been the only time since arriving at his new foster home that he could have time to himself. There wasn't anyone knocking on his door asking if he was hungry, no one wondering if he was interested in helping in the garden (honestly, he was asked that), and no one constantly telling him stories about people he didn't know. Right now, he was focused on spending quality time with him and him alone. Maybe he could even pretend he was just waiting for his friends to get back from a short shopping spree.

Today was just as nice as the day they enjoyed their time in Manhattan. The zoo had been a blast that afternoon. It was great seeing the awe-struck expression on his girlfriend's face, Calypso's eyes widening at the different animals, mainly the wild cats. Now that feels like such a long time ago. In reality, it had only been last Saturday but so much has happened since then.

He kicked a pebble on the sidewalk and it bounced away, settling in the middle of the road. A car passed over top of it only a second later, throwing the pebble the rest of the way until it reached the other side.

Leo had no idea where he was walking to, but he thought he would take advantage of being left on his own by wandering through his new neighborhood. He didn't like being stuck in that old, creaky house with nothing to do. Apparently, today was the day Alice was helping out in the animal shelter. She'd left him a note on the counter at eight o'clock in the morning to tell him she would be home by one. That was the best thing happening for him at the moment. He was on his own to do whatever he wanted. He wasn't sure how many chances he'd have to do that for a while, especially with school starting tomorrow.

Ugh. School. Just the mention of the name made his stomach weak. He wasn't sure which he was more scared about: the students or the teachers. How many students in this high school were told about him? How many would accept him? From Alice's mouth, she'd said they were always so accepting of new students. Something told him she didn't know what she was talking about. People weren't that nice. If he was lucky, maybe they would share a quick smile here and there, but it would all be fake. And the teachers? Like he told Alice, he had never liked any of his teachers, for more than one reason. This English teacher those new kids were talking about was already stressing him out. He had to be the world's worst essay writer.

 _Don't think about it,_ he told himself. _That's not until tomorrow. Worry about right now._

Leo passed a couple kids playing on the their front lawn, both girls. They danced a couple dolls around in the grass and talked with one another, pretending their toys were alive. He remembered those days - when he was a kid with nothing to trouble him. He would sit in their little living room with his car collection which consisted of a total of five cars while _Mamá_ would be sitting at the kitchen table dealing with paperwork from the shop. He remembered pushing his cars across the floor, making them crash into each other like every small boy child did. He loved those toys and he took extra care of them. Because _Mamá_ told him they didn't have a lot of money, he treasured everything he owned. Man. When he thought about it, he and _Mamá_ really were poor. If he remembered right, they even visited a few soup kitchens. At first, being his small innocent self, he'd thought they were restaurants, but now that he was older, he wasn't so sure.

Waiting for a couple cars to pass, Leo waved at the third waiting for him and quickly crossed the street. Maybe he'd treat himself to a slushy or something at one of the corner stores he saw the other day. It wasn't too far away and he had some spare cash in his tool belt that, today, was strapped around his waist. A chocolate bar sounded good too. Yeah. He'd do that.

Rounding another corner, he hoped he knew how to get back to the house. It shouldn't be that difficult though. Just as Alice told him, he was hoping the spare key was still under the rock in her garden. He'd locked the house before leaving like any person with a brain would. He didn't know when he'd be back, but there was still the possibility Alice could be there when he got back. For her sake, he wrote his own note saying he was out for a walk, just to ensure her he wasn't running off or something, though he would have liked to. For his friends though, he'd keep his word... right now, anyway.

It wasn't difficult to find the place he was looking for. The _O'l Corner Store_ was right where he'd thought it would be. Crossing the nearly empty parking lot, he opened the door, causing a small jingle to sound overhead, and walked in. He felt the eyes of a bored cashier watch him as he made his way to the back of the store where the slushy machines were. Just a little off-putting.

Leo grabbed a medium sized cup from the dispenser and tapped his fingers against the side. This place didn't have very many choices. One, two... six flavors, one of which was empty. Really? Come on. What's the point of only having a handful of flavors?

Despite his disappointment, he went ahead and started filling his cup a quarter full with orange Fanta.

A short while later, he heard the jingle from the door again. He snapped his lid on and grabbed a straw just as four teenage guys came wandering to the slushy machines as well. They pushed each other around and laughed with their skateboards tucked under their arms and pretty much made a bunch of noise. They reminded him of the group Mr. Thompson was complaining about making a ruckus on their street a few months ago. It almost made him laugh.

Leo took a sip of his slushy and searched the shelves for something to snack on. While looking, he couldn't help overhearing what the guys were talking about. It was apparently about some girl.

"Were you there when that happened?" one of the guys asked.

"You bet," one of the taller teens said. He wore a backwards green cap as if it would somehow make him look cooler. "That chick is a seriously light drinker."

"Yeah, but one hell of a bad ass when sober. Trust me, she judo-flipped someone from the wrestling team a few months ago."

"Nah. You're lying."

"No, it's true!"

"Yeah? Prove it."

"What, you want me to show you some kind of video?"

The green-capped guy smiled. "Dude, I would _love_ to see some video proof."

"I didn't have my phone with me."

"Yup. He's lying."

"Ah, leave him alone," a buffer guy with blond hair cut in. "Maybe he'll talk her into showing us later, huh? He's got a talent for sweet-talking the ladies. He'll show us then."

A chubby guy elbowed him in the arm. "I'll be waiting."

"Leave me alone," the first guy muttered with a hint of a smirk.

They talked a bit more, fooling around as they got their slushies while Leo tried to find what he was in the mood for. He wasn't really paying much attention to them, but at one point, he noticed from the corner of his eye the buffer guy nudge one of his friends and point at him with a smirk. He whispered something to his friends and they all chuckled in response.

Shit.

"Hey!" the stranger called out.

Leo pretended he didn't hear him.

"Hey, I'm talking to you!"

Taking another sip of his slushy, he reluctantly looked up at them. "Hm?"

He reached out and made a show of trying to get something out of the empty slushy machine, his cup sitting underneath the spout. "Yo, I think this thing is broken. Do you think you can fix it?"

Leo raised his eyebrow. Honestly, these guys have no originality. "The machine is empty," he told him lamely.

"Oh," the guy nodded as if he didn't already know that. "Well, can you fill it then? You _are_ the repair guy, aren't you?"

"What makes you think that?"

"Well, different reasons, mainly that tool belt 'round your waist."

Different reasons? "Doesn't mean I work here," he muttered with annoyance.

The guy laughed. "Dude, why else would you be wearing a tool belt? Come here a second, will you?"

"Nah. I'm good here," he smiled and took another sip.

The four of them began edging a little closer in response to his refusal.

"What? I'm not going to do anything," the buff guy stated, clearly the leader. "I just wanna talk."

Leo motioned his slushy to the machines they were once at. "You can talk to me from there. You've got a big enough mouth."

A flash of anger was visible on his face for a second before turning back to his snide, asshole grin. "Hey, no need to be rude. We just want to get to know you. We haven't seen you around before. You new?"

"How would you be able to tell whether I'm new or not? Yonkers is a big enough place."

He shrugged, getting closer with every step. "I know a lot of people in this area. You immigrated?"

"What?"

The teens behind the one questioning Leo began snickering without even bothering to hide it.

"You know," Blondie explained. "Starting a new life in the States? Crossed the border? Oh, don't tell me you _jumped_ it!"

Leo was feeling himself heat up with anger. "I'll have you know I was born here in the US."

"Ah," he grinned with a row of perfect white teeth. Too bad they weren't that dangerous shiny white he saw from Dylan the day of the Grand Canyon field trip. Then he'd have a legit reason to smash his face in. "I see. So your family immigrated."

"Why does that matter?" he found himself asking with heat to his question. Literally. He felt his hands melting the contents in his cup.

"Hey, no hard feelings, okay? Just a question."

An unnecessary question.

"Here, let me introduce myself," he said with an extended hand. "The name's Isaac Newman."

"Isaac Newton?" Leo snickered.

"Ha, ha," he rolled his eyes, clearly trying to hide his annoyance. "I didn't name myself."

Regretting making any kind of contact with the guy, Leo shook his hand and waited. Isaac seemed pleased he accepted it.

"Behind me are my good buds Oliver, Jack, and Nicholas." They all waved from the sidelines. "What about you? What's your name?"

Leo debated giving it to them. He wasn't sure what they were up to. Instead, he thought it safer to lie. "Sam Lopez."

"Nice to meet to you, Sam. Whatcha doing around here? You got anywhere to be?"

"Why do you care? I'm here to cool off same as you."

Isaac nodded with his bottom lip sticking out. "Fair enough. Hey, listen. We're meeting up with a few guys at the skate park on the other side of town. You should come and check it out. You got a skateboard?"

"No. I'm good though. You guys go ahead. I've got other places to be."

"You sure?" he asked with a look meant to pressure him into coming. "There will be a bunch of hot chicks there. I'm sure there will be someone there you'll get along with." He ended that statement with a wink and Leo wanted to roll his eyes.

"No, really. I'm good. I've already got a girlfriend, so I'll leave you desperate guys to them. Maybe there will be someone there you'll get along with," he backfired with a snide grin of his own.

However shrewd they thought the comeback was, they laughed at him anyway.

"Oh, listen to you, huh?" Isaac smirked. "You've got an attitude! I like that. Say, answer a question then."

"What?" Leo muttered.

"Why do you got a tool belt if you don't work here? You got a job somewhere else?"

"No."

"No? Then why the tool belt?"

"He doesn't even have anything in it," one of the guys called out with a snicker. "What a nerd."

"Dude!" Isaac laughed too. "Is that true? That's weird. Let me look at it for a second."

Leo stepped back as soon as Isaac reached his hand out. "I didn't say there wasn't anything in it."

"You don't have to," he pointed. "You can _see_ there's nothing in there! Why are you wearing a tool belt with nothing in it?"

"Why do you wear you head when you have nothing in it?" he fought back.

Again, they all raised their voices with surprise. Isaac only raised his eyebrow with a small chuckle this time though, clearly meaning Leo was getting to him. He wasn't laughing anymore. "You know what? Keep you tool belt. I was a little pushy asking for it anyway."

"Yeah. Thanks," Leo smirked knowing he got the upper hand that time.

Isaac looked at his guys behind him with an unreadable expression and then came back to Leo. "Sure. Listen, we gotta go. Maybe we'll catch up with you later. You come here often?"

"No," he answered with the same grin. "I jumped the border."

"Yeah. Right," he muttered with a half grin, obviously not happy with how the conversation was ending. "I'll see you around," and he and his gang walked off to pay for their slushies.

Making sure they were out of sight when they exited, Leo shook his head and grabbed a Butterfingers from the shelf. Sometimes people were complete jerks, whether they tried to be or not. One thing was for sure though, Leo hoped to never run into those guys again. He was lucky enough to push them off, but it doesn't always end like that. And honestly, throwing racist jokes in there? He really went that low? Asshole.

Leo placed his items on the counter and grabbed a ten dollar bill from his tool belt.

"You okay, kid?" the guy behind the counter asked ringing up his snacks.

"Hm? Oh, yeah. I'm actually pretty used to it. It's fine."

"You sure?"

He nodded and handed him the money. "Here. Keep the change," and he grabbed his things, leaving the man and his small business behind. Honestly, if the guy was so worried about him, why didn't he just step in? Well, Leo was glad he didn't because that would have been hella embarrassing on his part, but the man just stood there. People who have hope in humanity seriously need to rethink what they're dealing with.

For a while Leo walked on, drinking his slushy and finishing off his chocolate bar. Once again, he had no idea where he was going. His plan was to continue down one of the main drags and hopefully find somewhere interesting to visit, preferably with a better experience than at the corner store. The street had several other small businesses such as second-hand clothing stores, an antiques shop, a gas station, and a toy store. Stopping, he decided to check out some antiques. Who knows? Maybe he'd find something cool to tinker with. He spent a good while in there, checking out the odds and ends, trying to see what he could do with them. He even passed by an ancient violin that had been around for presumably one hundred years. Whether that was true or not, he didn't really know. He left it on it's display anyway and moved on to the next thing. An hour later, he came back with an old music box. It was rusted and in pretty bad shape, but he thought it would be neat to fix it up and maybe give it to Calypso... whenever he'd get to see her that is. She would probably freak out about it making music simply by turning a handle. He needed to be there for that.

And then he was back on the streets. It was only twelve thirty at the moment, half-an-hour until Alice finished her volunteer work at the shelter. At this point, she might make it home before him since she drove. Leo had no idea how far the shelter was from where he was located, but it, too, was somewhere in the area. Part of him was curious to see what kinds of animals they had there. Probably the basic cats and dogs. Should he bother making a quick visit? Really, there wasn't much for him to do anyway. And if he got there at the right time, maybe he could catch a ride back to the house with Alice once she was off. It was so unlike him to actually search out his foster parent, but he was slowly running out of ideas on how to keep himself entertained in this part of the city. Without a car, his limits were resorted to the nearby shops and business, which didn't offer very much. He was getting bored.

With the plan in place, he began looking out for the animal shelter, crossing streets, rounding corners, and striding past other civilians. On the way he passed a guitarist playing for money on the streets, his guitar case open for people walking by with only a few small coins scattering the bottom. Digging in his tool belt, Leo grabbed a twenty and dropped it in for him. He received a very pleased grin and a nod from the run-down man with appreciation for his kindness. Leo returned it and kept walking. He knew only too well what it was like to be begging for money. Every cent was a blessing and it was hard finding people generous enough to share or who trusted the person begging to be a legit homeless person.

Finally, after a solid fifteen minutes, Leo managed to find the animal shelter. It was a small building with a big, blue, paw-printed sign advertising the shelter to the ongoing traffic. In the parking lot, Leo spotted Alice's black Sedan placed in the reserved parking for staff situated at the side of the building.

Leo sighed and made his way up to the doors. They were automatic and so they opened immediately when the sensors noticed him. Entering, he saw no one sat at the front desk. He looked from side to side only to find animal posters on the walls and separate doorways leading to different parts of the building, the left clearly leading to the dog kennels. A sign was posted on the door with a dog pointing to the left. The same kind of poster was hanging on the door to the right except it was a cat pointing the opposite direction. Walking up to the desk he found a bell on the counter. He rang it twice and raised his chin to see if he could get a glimpse of someone working in the back room through the window above the counter. Didn't look like anyone was there. Still, he sat for a few minutes to see what would happen. After another minute, he rang it again and waited. Nope. No one. Great service. Waiting for a while, his ADHD managed to take control of him. Finding a pen on the counter, he grabbed it and started fiddling. He clicked it over and over again, waiting. He flipped it up and down and spun it around in his fingers, hoping someone was around to notice him.

Or maybe he didn't want that. He didn't know. What was he doing here again? Was he actually that bored - that _desperate_ \- that he actually came all the way down here to see the one person he didn't want to be around? Here he was, standing in a stupid animal shelter after telling Alice he preferred being around tools and machines. Maybe this was a mistake. Maybe it was a good thing no one was at the desk to meet him. Maybe he should just go back to the house.

Just as he was about to leave, a cheery voice suddenly came from the left. "I'm so sorry! I wasn't able to get to you quick enough. Thank you for waiting."

Leo turned quickly to the woman who just came out from the dog kennels. She was a short lady not anywhere over her thirties, her hair cut in a brown pixie cut. A black ring piercing was attached to her nose.

"I-I... I..." he stuttered, taken off guard. "Hi," he said lamely.

Making her way to the desk, she smiled at him. "What can I do for you? Are you in search of a new companion today?"

"Uh... no. No, I'm not." Crap. What was he here for? "I was just, uh... um..."

She continued to grin at him though there was a hint of confusion hidden underneath.

"I was... Well, I was just walking by and... I thought maybe I'd... uh..."

"Are you searching for a volunteer opportunity?" she suggest politely. "We're always in need of new volunteers. Would you like to fill in one of our forms?"

He shook his head and set the pen he was still holding down. "No, no, it's okay. I wasn't looking for any work or anything."

"Oh, alright," she nodded. Taking a second to study him, she lifted the corner of her mouth a little more. "Would you maybe like to have a look around at the animals we have here? I could maybe give you a little tour of the place. Is that something you'd be interested in?"

Still not knowing what he was doing here, he looked around at his surroundings. He didn't even know what he was looking for. "Uh... Sure. Yeah."

 _What? A tour? You're asking for a tour?_ Leo almost wanted to smash his head against a wall. Of all the things... Why was he here?

"Alright then," the woman smiled. "Right this way. We'll start off in the feline section if that's alright with you."

 _Fantastic. Because cats interest me so much._ Nonetheless, Leo followed her, not wanting to look like more of an idiot than he already came across as.

Through the door on their right, Leo was led into a room lined with cubical prisons holding numerous cats. Most of them were asleep, however the odd one was watching them silently from the corners of their cages, possibly thinking of a way to attack. One of those was a humongous fatty with paws that didn't even look like they could support his weight. The only way that thing could damage anyone was if he fell on their heads. He'd break their necks.

"This is our feline kennels," the woman told him. "We house twenty-three cats at the moment. On a regular basis, we usually bring in two or three cats a week into this place while the average of cats adopted sit around one to two a week. It's a nice balance since we need room for the next little guys coming in."

Leo stuffed his hands in his pockets and sighed inwardly. The cats continued to stare.

"Of course, to know the situations these poor creatures are coming from, it's good to know we can help them. So far, we've found permanent homes for 384 cats in the years we've been open."

Talking more about the animals, Leo pretended to be interested. Really though, he was thinking of a way he could get out of here. He didn't want to be rude and randomly say he had to run. He felt kinda stuck in this scenario. He continued to listen and followed her around the back rooms, the whole time dreading coming here. She showed him the rooms where they play with the cats, where they groom them, and where they take care of their health. She explained a lot of different things about how to take care of the homeless animals which Leo didn't really know before.

Eventually, they finished in the feline section.

"And here we have our dog kennels," she went on, leading him into the left wing of the building. "The dogs don't seem to leave quite as fast as the cats and we seem to bring more and more in. Some of the poor dears often come to us in rather poor conditions, but after a little care and a bit of lovin', they are brought back to normal."

Leo now walked down a hallway filled with dogs divided into their own little area. A glass door closed them off from the hallway but still gave the dogs something to look at. At the sight of him, several dogs hopped to their feet with wagging tails and excited barks. Some even jumped up on the glass, their claws clicking against it. Leo smiled a little when their noses left wet spots on the doors.

"We try our very best to show these dogs off and our visitors seem to really love them. However, the rates at which new dogs are brought in are quicker then any coming out. At one point, we've even had to turn some away to other kennels due to how full we were." She shook her head as she watched Leo touch his fingers against the glass in response to an excited dog. "It's sad how many strays we find."

Leo's small grin fell a little as he took his hand away.

All of a sudden, from the end of the hallway where another door was, came Alice with her hands full with a tub of dog dishes. She pushed the door open with her back and began walking down the isle of dogs when she looked up and froze.

"Leo! Dear, what are you doing here?" she smiled with surprise.

Once more, Leo wasn't really sure what he was supposed to say. "Oh, uh... I was just... I left you a note at the house because... I..." He pointed his thumb behind him where the other lady was. "She was just giving me a tour."

 _Smooth. Real smooth, you idiot. Might as well go die in a hole._

Somehow, a knowing sympathetic smile came to her face. "There wasn't much happening back at the house was there?"

He shrugged, almost embarrassed to admit it.

"That's understandable. I'm sorry I had to leave you on your own. You see, it's a weekly tradition for me. Every Sunday I volunteer."

"It's fine," Leo told her truthfully. "I went out for a walk anyway. Stopped at the corner store and antique shop for a little bit."

She readjusted the tub on her hip. "Well I'm glad you found something to do. Have you finished your tour?"

"We were just finishing up," the woman who had been showing him around cut in. "If you want, I'll deal with those dishes and you can pick up from where we left off. You're pretty much at the end of your shift."

"Thank you, Mary," Alice nodded while handing the tub to her friend. "That would be nice."

Mary then passed by and left them on their own, leaving through the door she and Leo had just entered.

Leo looked back at Alice who was standing with a pleased grin. "So, what has she all shown you so far? Have you seen the cat kennels?"

"Yeah." Thank the gods he didn't have to go through that again. "She was just telling me about the dogs."

"Oh, well I suppose that's a good place to pick up from." She turned to face one of the dogs on the other side of the glass. "This dog here?" she started. "This is a Chow Chow. His name is Bear, mainly because his breed looks like a giant teddy bear. He's been here the longest but is one of the friendliest dogs here. Isn't that right?" she asked the dog, Bear wagging his tail in response.

Leo allowed himself a small smile.

"This girl over here," Alice went on, "is a Golden Retriever. She's been here a little while as well. Her name is Daisy. Poor thing. She came here with a bad limp and matted fur. Not really sure why someone just let her go. She's a beautiful dog -"

Alice was cut off by a loud yelp coming from the back room. She spun around almost immediately and walked over to the window on the door to see what the cause of it was.

"What is it?" Leo asked, not sure why she looked so concerned. "What's wrong?"

"Oh dear," she muttered under her breath. Looking back at him, her kind smile was replaced by a worried frown. "We brought in a dog this morning. He's in pretty bad shape."

"Why? What happened?"

"We don't really know," and she turned back to see what was happening on the other side of the door. "Here," she said and opened it. "I'll let you come back here for a minute."

Following her in, he stayed close behind with curiosity of what was going on.

Once they passed the door, they walked into a large room with separate kennels for either smaller dogs and larger ones. Along the back wall directly across from the door they came through was a long counter with sinks and cupboards and drawers for whatever they needed. In the center of the room, was a large table where several men and a woman stood, all wearing the same scrubs Alice and Mary were wearing, signifying they, too, worked at this shelter. It was then that he realized what they were standing over.

Lying on the table was a boxer, it's body trembling with either fear or pain, maybe both. It was whimpering weakly even without being touched. The people stood there talking with one another, not knowing what to do with him.

A man looked up and spotted Leo. "Hey, what are you doing back here? This is for staff only."

"No, no," Alice quickly interfered. "He's with me. What's going on? How's he holding up?"

"He seems to be getting worse by the minute. We've taken tests, but there isn't anything we've found that could cause him to act out the way he is."

"Well he's obviously in a lot of pain. Isn't there any way we can give him morphine?"

"We've already given him two doses today. It's not making much difference."

"Well isn't there anything else we can do? Are you certain he doesn't have any broken bones?"

Leo stared at the dog lying on the table. One of the workers reached out and began stroking the animal with a tender touch, making sure not to harm it any more. Leo couldn't lift his eyes off of it. It was in so much pain and the whimpering was constant.

"Aren't there any more tests to take?" Alice continued to ask, now standing with the rest of them. "Maybe it has to do with a blood clot."

"Alice, we've tried everything we could have thought of. This dog is suffering..."

They talked on, their voices gradually seeming more and more distant. Leo's ears began to ring and he could feel his heart starting to pound.

The dog. It was just lying there, whimpering. Every once in a while, it would jerk abruptly as if feeling a new wave of pain. A sudden image flashed before him. It was filled with blood; blood from another dog. It's brown fur was coated in the dark red as it's unmoving body lie on the ground. Even the leaves took on the color of the overpouring liquid running down the dog's body. The struggles it had made against the tight rope around its neck, confining him to only a small area around the tree, had left deep cuts in his flesh. However, that was not the cause of the amount of blood loss this creature had suffered. Leo knew it was him that was the cause. Both his hands were covered in his blood. It was by his own hands that this dog died.

Leo vaguely registered himself slowly backing away from the dog lying there, washed over by horror and guilt. There was so much blood.

Voices cut in and out of his muffled hearing, but he didn't know who they belonged to. "There isn't anything a person... to do... We're... have to... him down. He's suffering."

"Isn't... another way?"

"He can't... Alice... Have... put him down..."

And then there were yelps. Gods. Oh gods. They echoed in his ears as if they were the only thing he could hear. He remembered listening to those distinct pitches, those cries, knowing he was the one to cause them.

 _Don't stop now,_ she yelled from behind him. _I'm not about to finish it for you!_

The glint of the knife was now hidden under a mask of blood. It made the handle slippery and hard to grasp. Still, he remembered jabbing hard, not even knowing where it was puncturing because of tears blocking his vision. He stabbed over and over, sobbing and hating himself more than anything. Bruno yelped every time the knife made contact with him which only made it harder.

All of a sudden, Leo felt two hands grasp his shoulders. He shouted with surprise and tried yanking them off. They only held on tighter.

"Leo..." the muffled voice cried. "... alright... for the best..."

All it took was for him to spot her blonde hair.

Miss Teresa. She's got him.

"No!" he heard himself yell out as he continued to try to pull out of her grip. "NO! Let me go! Let me go! Please!"

"Leo, honey, you... calm down. Everything... be fine. Take deep breaths."

"Why did you make me do it?" he pushed against her and freed himself. "I didn't want to! He was my _best friend_! W-why did you make me?"

His back hit against something, stopping him from backing up any more.

"The dog... too much pain. We have to put him down... better that way."

"He was my best friend," he heard himself sob. Wait. He was crying?

"... know this dog?" Miss Teresa's distant voice asked with a surprising amount of sympathy. "How... you... what happened... him?"

He felt her grip his arms again and he tensed up. "Please! Don't! I'm sorry! I'm sorry!" He didn't want to be punished again. Miss Teresa's punishments were always so cruel.

"... not doing... Take deep breaths," she urged him. "Deep breaths."

Despite his want to resist, he stopped struggling. Something about her seemed different then all the other times, and so he dared to listen.

"Again. Deep breaths."

With every inhale, he found his breathing was being brought back under control. He didn't even realize he had been breathing quickly in the first place. Maybe that's why he was feeling slightly lightheaded. Eventually, with her coaxing him to continue taking control of himself, he noticed his ears had stopped ringing and the world didn't seem as fuzzy. In fact, once he relaxed himself enough, he realized the woman standing in front of him wasn't even Miss Teresa.

It was Alice. She was staring at him with a look of worry on her face, her hands still holding onto his shoulders. She was still talking.

"There you go. Are you feeling better? Can you hear me now?"

Slowly, finally aware of the others standing nearby watching this whole scene, he nodded, his eyes glued to hers.

"Good," she nearly whispered. "Do you need a glass of water?"

Leo shook his head.

After studying him for a minute, she let her hands drop back to her sides. "Would you like me to drive you back home?"

He felt something running down his face. Wiping it away, he realized it was a tear. Embarrassed, he quickly wiped the rest of his face with his hands and sniffed. He didn't bring his gaze back to her or anyone else in the room. He simply nodded and walked out the door, waiting for her to follow.

What the hell?

* * *

 **Quite the day for Leo, huh? Let's see how he'll hold up next chapter. Of course though, you'd have to be patient and wait for it to come out. Computer problems, remember? DX** **  
**

 **Anyway, hope you enjoyed reading. :) Look out for chapter 10 and don't forget to review!  
**

 **~supworld-issa-tiger~**


	10. The First Day of School: Part 1

**So I'm back with the next chapter after a long wait. I'm so pleased to hear such awesome feedback from you all! You make me day so much!**

 **Reviews:**

RosettaQueen20: **We know he is deep down, don't we?**

KuroDeity: **No offense when I say this, but I laughed at your comment when I first read it. You must be a dog person because you totally just ignored Leo's state of mind! XD All's good though. Dogs are great. XD**

Guest: **I'm so glad to hear it! I had a lot of fun creating my OCs.**

LonelySkeleton013: **Thanks. ;P He is, isn't he? I kinda feel like I have a part to play in that... :/ And yay! I was actually not sure what anyone thought about the length of my chapters. I didn't want it to feel like it was dragging out too much. Thanks for your review!  
**

tournee-de-la-ladybug: ***blushes* Thanks so much for the compliments! Knowing I'm working with characters that are not all my own, I'm so grateful for your review. And my OCs (as I said above) were so much fun to create. I'm glad you enjoy them and hope you continue reading my story with as much enthusiasm as you put into your review!**

WifeofJaceHerondale: **Seriously guys! I can't help but smile at all your reviews! Thanks so much! I've got the best reviewers ever! ;D  
**

 **Now that my face has turned back to it's normal color and my eyelashes have fluttered sheepishly, let's get on with the story, shall we?  
**

 **WARNINGS:** **SWEAR WORDS (like 2 maybe), RACISM  
**

 **SHOUT OUT!  
Anyone you do not recognize as PJO characters are rightfully mine. I think you get that already. :P  
**

* * *

 **~Leo's POV~  
**

Cookie was lying on the floor of the kitchen all sprawled out beside her dish, staring at Leo with her big green eyes. He felt a little uneasy having the creature watch him so intently. It almost made him feel like he was being hunted or at least possible prey that was yet to be considered. He stared back at her while taking a bite of his cereal, ultimately having an incredibly intense staring contest. He had to admit. She was good. She hadn't blinked in over a minute.

It was only just after seven in the morning, yet Leo had been up for hours already. He'd watched the sun come up all the way from the distant light on the horizon, to the now giant ball of fire making it's way into the morning sky. There was even a bit of pink mixed in with the orange and blue, the sky filled with shade from a painter's color pallet. He was sure both Hazel and Rachel would love to see the way the colors changed as the morning progressed, seeing that they were both into art. Maybe they already have. If they were awake. Anyway, Leo had seen it. He hadn't been able to sleep. There was so much on his mind, he didn't know where to start. The documents, school, the nightmares, and now the stupid episode he'd had yesterday. He hadn't the slightest clue how or why that even happened. Having so much attention on him acting that way... it was both something he felt guilty and embarrassed about. They all probably thought he was a mental case now. Freaking out because a dog was injured? He could almost bet money that that was what they were all thinking. Leo didn't know what happened to the dog. Did they even figure out what its problem was?

Leo suddenly glanced up at the hallway when he heard the shower turn off. Alice had left him alone to eat breakfast while she got ready for the day.

That was another thing. He hadn't spoken to her since the episode. Like, _at all_. She herself didn't really try to have conversation with him, probably sensing he didn't want to talk about it, which he didn't. Instead, she snuck concerned glances his way every once in a while, and that was almost worse. He knew inside she was begging to know what the episode was all about yesterday, but she stayed silent. And even if she did ask, what the hell was he supposed to say to her? Things got a lot more complicated all of a sudden. Now, on top of the uncomfortable living-with-a-complete-stranger problem, he had to deal with the lingering awkward silence between them. He sighed. At least he had to go somewhere today, even if it was school. For a few hours he'd be saved from living in the miserable pitying atmosphere where the only person other than Leo looked at him like she did the dog at the shelter.

Taking another bite of his breakfast, Leo went back to staring at Cookie. "You should be grateful you're not a human," he mumbled through a mouth full of cereal. "The worst of your worries is a dirty litter box."

Cookie yawned and began cleaning herself.

"And hairballs."

A while later, Leo heard Alice's silent footsteps walking down the hallway towards the kitchen. She always had a quiet walk, almost as if she was sneaking up on someone. When she appeared, she wore her nurse's uniform - purple scrub pants with a white flowered scrub top. Her hair was already blow dried and pulled back in her clip, ready for work. Her purse was in her hand. She noticed him looking at her and smiled a concerned smile once again. He wished she would stop doing that.

"You almost ready?" she asked.

He shrugged and took another bite, avoiding making any more eye contact.

There was another moment of awkward silence between them, something that was beginning to feel normal now. There wasn't anything for him to say. It made him wonder why she even bothered trying to talk with him? He could just see it on her face that she wanted to say something more. Instead, she placed her purse on the counter and started digging through it, looking for something. Finishing the last bit of milk in his bowl, he stood up and put it in the sink. Alice finally paused and looked up at him without a smile this time.

"Are you sure you're up to going to school today, sweetie?" Her voice was edging a whisper. "You don't have to if you're not feeling well. Principle Wells will understand."

"I'm sure," he muttered almost a little too quickly. He'd had enough of her pity. "I'll be fine."

"Are you certain?"

"I said I'll be fine. Stop asking me." He ignored the slightly hurt expression on Alice's face as he walked past her to go downstairs. There wasn't any reason why he should feel guilty about it either. He didn't know her, and she didn't know him. Give it a few weeks and he'd be out of here with his friends back at camp. They'd help him out of this hellhole. Then Alice would be yet another person from the past, left as a stranger he barely knew and he was more than okay with that. If only that reality would hurry up and get here.

As soon as he reached the bottom of the stairs, he heard quick, little, thumping footsteps trailing behind him. _Great_ , he thought. _The cat really is hunting me._

He entered his room and grabbed his backpack from off his desk chair. He always left it out just in case he had to make a quick runaway. Setting it on his bed, he began gathering the items Alice had gotten for him for school. Cookie watched him from his doorway with the same intent as she had in the kitchen. Books, pencils, pens... He was probably packing more than he needed, but he'd rather have extras than not enough. Lastly, he shoved his tool belt in with his other supplies. Now that he was living in the mortal world again, he didn't like the idea of going anywhere without it, even if it wasn't strapped around his waist. Monsters could be hiding anywhere, including the school. He'd heard the story of what Percy's first monster attack was like. Just a regular day at school, then _BAM!_ The teacher was a Fury. Literally. There was no way he was going unprepared.

Leo didn't know when Alice left for work. She'd told him last night that she'd drop him off at school before she headed for the hospital. Until then, the temptation to sit back and watch his TV was nagging at the back of his mind, but knowing the risk if he ever touched the thing helped him fight against it. He hadn't turned it on in all the time he'd been here and wasn't ever planning to. It was just as dangerous as using a phone or computer. A signal would go out to all the monsters in the area, telling them that there was a demigod nearby in no better shape than a sitting duck. And then there would be the whole problem about putting everyone here, including Alice, in danger. He didn't hate the woman that much. Still, the TV was temptation.

Instead, he looked over at the cat once more and puffed out a sigh. "I bet there aren't even any good channels, are there?"

She just stared.

"What? You don't watch TV? Oh, yeah. That's right. You look out the window and stare at everything out there too. Cats really are creepy."

This time a small meow came out from the fluff ball, sounding more like a squeak. Cookie stood up and walked over to his bed. Jumping on, she took a moment and sniffed his bag before lying down in front of his pillows.

He smirked. "Cozy? Well I got new for you. That's _my_ bed."

Her eyes found his, holding nothing but a blank expression. If she could talk, she'd probably say something about not caring.

"Oh, is that right?" he raised an eyebrow. "Well you'll care if I take you off. How 'bout that?" He then reached out and picked her up only long enough to lower her back to the floor. Then he pointed his finger at the open doorway. "Out." When nothing happened, he tried again. "I said, get out. I don't want a furry creature sleeping on my bed all the time. I don't even know where you've been. I bet you've got fleas or something."

Flicking her tail at him, she blinked. After a moment or two later, she trotted out and jumped up on the couch in the downstairs sitting room.

"Leo, honey," Alice called from the top of the stairs. "You ready to go?"

Taking one last glance at Cookie as she tucked her paws under herself, he grabbed his backpack from off his bed. "Ready as I'll ever be," he muttered.

* * *

Leo sat in the passengers seat of Alice's black Sedan, watching the crowds of high school kids climb the steps to the front doors. His backpack sat on his lap and his stomach was left behind somewhere. Nausea had crept back without permission. This was the part where he wasn't sure how it would turn out. Schools were harder to prepare for because there were always so many students, so many characters. Who you ran into was a total surprise... well, sometimes. He couldn't say he wasn't aware of at least some kinds of people he would come across. There were certain types of students you can always find in school: the bullies and the cliques. The rest were everywhere in between. They could be good, bad, or both. Who knew? At this point though, he could safely say that no one in that building was someone he could fully trust even if Alice insisted that the students were welcoming.

"Are you having second thoughts?"

Pulling him out of his stare, Leo turned to look at Alice. He opened his mouth to say that he wasn't, but when nothing came out, he shut it again and looked down. His fingers began fiddling with his bag's zipper. He could feel her worried eyes on him.

"If you do go," she went on in a soothing tone, "and you feel that it's too much, you can call me and I'll come pick you up. Do you have a phone?"

He shook his head, hating himself for letting her see him like this. He didn't even fight back. After experiencing his attitude for the time that's he's been here, she was probably expecting him to say that he didn't need her. And he didn't. He just didn't want to be left in that school without knowing whether or not he had a way to get out. If he needed, that is. His nerves were getting the better of him.

"That's alright," Alice said. "I'm sure Principle Wells can let you use his. Just don't be afraid to call."

And then the silence. There wasn't anything for him to say, but he could practically hear her thoughts running through her mind, things she wanted to say, the questions she wanted to ask. It was all laid out for him in the concerned look in her eyes.

Hating the feeling of being studied, he quickly bit his lip and opened the door, ready, more or less, to put up with what the day was going to hold for him. Before he closed the door behind him, he heard Alice raise her voice.

"Have a good day, Leo. Maybe search for Bronwyn and the others. They'll help you out."

Before anything else was said, he shut the door and slung his backpack over his shoulder, making his way to the school with everyone else. He looked back only once to watch her start the car again, but she didn't drive off. Instead, even from the distance he was from her, he could still feel her eyes on him. She was beginning to remind him of the cat. He physically shook that thought off and continued on.

Soon enough, after climbing the steps and pulling the door open, he was inside, swallowed in the sea of students. Immediately he felt small and intimidated. He'd definitely forgotten what if felt like to be placed in this scenario. From right to left, guys and girls swarmed the halls, rushing here and there. A lot of them were standing at their lockers, sorting out their new books and adding new ones. Several girls were busy redecorating their lockers with pictures of their recent crushes and taking down old ones while gossiping with their best friends. Other groups of kids were gathered in small huddles, talking and laughing with old friends about their summer holidays. No one looked his way. It was almost as if Leo was invisible. Of course, he didn't actually mind that. Being the new guy was never an easy role to take part in. However, given enough time, students would start to notice the new face and then attention would be directed towards him. Leo was prepared to hide behind his mask if he had to, but after everything that has been going on, he wasn't sure how well he'd be able to keep it up.

Swallowing hard and still feeling a little overwhelmed by the amount of students wandering the halls, Leo reminded himself that the best place to start was to go to the principle's office to get his schedule. At least there he'd come across a familiar face who was willing to give him some guidance.

He bumped past students the whole way to Principle Wells's office, excusing himself and pardoning his interruption while passing through talking groups. None of them seemed bothered by him, which was a good sign. They simply went back to discussing whatever they were discussing. Finally, Leo managed to find the room he was looking for and knocked on Principle Wells's door.

"Come in," he heard a muffled voice. He did. "Ah! Leo, I was expecting you. How are you this morning?"

He held on tight to his bag's straps. "Fine, I guess."

"Good, good," the man smiled. "I suppose you're here for your schedule."

"Yup."

Principle Wells nodded and pulled out a drawer to his desk. From inside, he fished out a paper and pushed it across the table for him to see. "I'm assuming you might need a little help remembering where all the classes are. If you have any questions about where to find the right classroom, just ask one of the kids in the halls. They'll be more than willing to point it out for you."

Leo nodded once and took a look at the sheet of paper.

"Of course, there is a general map of the entire school on the back as well."

He flipped it over and glanced at it, wondering how long it would take for him to memorize where everything was. The orientation he'd had made him feel a little better about finding his way, but was glad for the map all the same, even if it was a little hard for him to read with his dyslexia. The text was small and a few words bounced around. Thankfully the font was bigger on the other side of the page.

"Do you have any questions?" Principle Wells asked after Leo had time to look everything over.

He shook his head. "I don't think so."

"Alright then. Your locker is number 48, just down the hall and to the right. You'll find it. Hope you have a great first day, Leo. And don't forget to ask questions if you need answers."

"Thanks," he mumbled back with a half grin. He opened the door again and made his way out back into the halls, his schedule held tightly in his fist. Apparently calculus was his first class. He was more than grateful because it was both a class he enjoyed and the easiest to find. It was almost directly across from the billboard and trophy shelves which made a great landmark. If there was one thing he didn't want to do on his first day, it was being late to class and making his arrival more obvious and embarrassing than needed. Might as well just put him in a spotlight. He was going to try to avoid that.

"Excuse me," he uttered while squeezing past more groups of kids. "Sorry. I'm just trying to find my locker."

A girl with blonde ponytails turned around from her circle of friends and looked at him. "Oh, hi. I haven't seen you around here before. You new? What's the number?"

"What?"

"Your locker number."

"Oh, uh, 48."

She pointed her finger to the lockers a little further ahead. "It's over there."

"Thanks," he offered her a half-hearted smile.

"Hey, no problem," and she went back to the conversation with her circle.

Finding locker number 48, he opened it and began sorting out his things. He tried to ignore all the commotion going on around him, but it was difficult. There were a few kids a little ways from him standing at their own lockers talking over the noise about some dumb video game. Others pushed each other around and bumping into him. There were even paper airplanes flying past the halls. He was feeling smaller and smaller by the minute. Remembering what he'd thought in the kitchen this morning about being glad he was going somewhere to avoid talking with Alice, was now untrue. He wanted to lock himself in his room for the rest of the day, not talking to anyone. Call him antisocial, but that's how he felt. And lucky him, now had to spend the entire day around people who would probably want to talk and get to know him - or at least that's what Alice made it sound like. He really wasn't in the mood for any of that.

As if on cue, Leo felt a tap on his shoulder. Cursing on the inside, he spun around with his books in his arms and found himself face to face with Bronwyn Labbett who was smiling at him like he was some kind of celebrity. Her pink hair had a turquoise barrette in it today.

"Heya!" she gleamed.

"Bronwyn. Hey," he tried at a smile.

"So it's your first day. How are you feeling?"

Shitty. "Uh, good I guess. Calculus is my first class for the day, so at least I'm off to a good start."

She squinted her eyes a little at that. "Is that sarcasm or honesty?"

"Believe it or not, I like to call myself a math genius. Even tutored the teacher one time back in eighth grade."

"You're teasing!" she laughed. "But you seriously enjoy math? Out of all the other classes?"

"You doubt my brain capacity?" he smirked.

"No, not at all! I just don't know a lot of people who like it."

"Yeah, I enjoy math. Honestly, it's one of the only things in school I actually excel at."

She crossed her arms. "Interesting. Well, I hope it goes well then."

"It should. Unless I've grown dumber over the last few months."

Bronwyn giggled. She actually _g_ _iggled._ Very few times had Leo ever heard a girl giggle the way she did, and especially towards him. Those kinds of things usually only happened to Jason or other macho dudes with pretty faces. He wasn't really sure what to think about that.

"I'm sure that's not the case," Bronwyn grinned. "And hey, I've noticed your locker is number 48. Mine is just across, number 35. If you ever need to find a familiar face around here, that's where you'll find me."

He stretched his neck to attempt looking through the crowd. "Sure. Sounds good."

"Now I gotta go," she told him. "Classes are going to start right away. I'll see you later, 'kay?"

"Yeah," he said waving to her as she already began making her way to her locker. "See you."

He waited until she was out of sight to let his smile fade. This was going to be a long day.

* * *

Leo settled himself down in one of the desks in Mr. Grosling's classroom. Already he could feel eyes watching him as if he were some kind of mystical creature that randomly decided to bombard their class. He'd taken a seat in the very back of the room, hoping he'd get as little attention as possible, but it was obviously not working. He pulled a few pipe cleaners he'd taken from his bag out from his pocket and began twisting them together nervously. He had a feeling he would be going through them as easily as if they were packs of gum. In his old desks when he was younger, he'd always had a full pack stored away along with rubber bands and popsicle sticks. He believed he'd only had them taken them away twice in the past, but they were always replaced. What could he say? It was hard to break old habits.

More and more students entered until slowly, one by one, all the desks, except for one, were taken. Leo received a few smiles and waves from a few teens. Somewhere in front of him, he heard whispers talking about him and where he was from. It was difficult to hear exactly what they were saying, but the gist of it was that he was the new guy they had all heard about. He could have sworn his arrival was announced on flyers everywhere for all to see. Who _didn't_ know about him?

Trying his best to relax, he leaned back in his desk with his legs stretched out, one foot on top of another, and continued twisting the pipe cleaners. The green mixed with the yellow, wrapping around each other like those DNA models. Unintentionally though, after working on it for a short while, he found that the shape reminded him of the gorilla he'd once made years ago on the walk home from school. Feeling that strange sense of panic rise up from his chest again, he quickly took it apart and began making something new.

"That a hobby of yours?"

Startled, Leo looked to his side to find a teen guy sitting in the desk directly beside him, watching his hands work. His buzz cut hair looked like short blond grass sprouting from his head. "Uh, no not really," Leo quickly explained while stuffing the pipe cleaners in his pocket. "More of a time killer."

"What was it you were making? Weren't you happy with it?" he smirked back at him.

"Honestly I didn't really know what I was making."

"Ah," he nodded. "I see."

Leo looked up at the clock. "Say, what time is this class supposed to start? We've been sitting here for a while."

"Mr. Grosling has a reputation of being late for class on the first day of school."

He laughed a little. "And here I was worried _I_ would be late to class on my first day."

They made small talk for a little while until finally, after a few minutes, a hurried man came bursting into the room with his hands filled with files. He had a receding hair line even though he didn't look that old. There was only a small amount of grey hairs on his head and in his beard. He was old enough to be the teacher though, so that's what Leo decided he was.

Mr. Grosling didn't even look up at any of them when he began talking to the class while sorting through his files on his desk. His fingers moved fast and clumsily while flipping through the pages inside the folders. "Alright, I know I'm late and you'll have time to scold me about that later, but for now, get your books out and turn to page 10."

Everyone did what he said immediately without a second thought. Not wanting to get into any trouble already, Leo did the same. It kind of shocked him how fast this guy spoke.

A hand shot up from one of the students. "Mr. Grosling, aren't we missing someone?"

Still not looking at any of them, he answered, "Yes and that's why I haven't told you to start reading yet. There are a few things I want to say before we begin." He paused what he was doing and walked over to the door. Sticking his head out into the hall, he shouted, "We haven't got all day!" He then pulled his head back in and resumed searching his files for whatever he was looking for, randomly pulling different sheets out and placing them on the desk.

Leo leaned to the side a bit to see past someone's head to look at the door. He could hear footsteps rushing down the hall until the late student finally made it. Who he saw made him want to hide under his desk.

 _No! Oh, gods, no!_ _Why, out of all the people here in Yonkers, did_ he _have to be here?_

Isaac Newman, the blond Hulk Leo had had the pleasure of meeting yesterday, apologized to Mr. Grosling before making his way to the empty desk only a few desks down from Leo. His shirt was so tight fit on his muscular build today, it looked as if he would tear it simply by bending down. The girls in the room didn't seem to mind though because their eyes followed him all the way to his desk. One even blushed. Before he sat down though, because Leo's luck was anything but lucky, Isaac turned to pull his backpack off his shoulder. Leo froze as soon as their eyes met. Although he knew it was only a few split seconds that their gaze stayed on one another, it felt like the longest staring contest he had ever had. What made it worse though, was that Isaac turned away with slightly raised eyebrows and a smirk, which only made Leo feel as though he had lost the only round that had actually mattered.

Isaac knew he was here and there wasn't even any point in hiding it.

"Turn to page 10 in your book, Isaac," Mr. Grosling declared again, this time examining the papers he had pulled out and them putting them all on a pile on his desk. "Okay, first things first, we have a new student with us." He raised his hand in a manner that meant stand. "You know who you are."

Wait. What? Leo almost couldn't even process what he had just said, one, because of how fast he spoke, and two, because he was still in shock after finding out who one of his classmates was. So, when he overcome those few stunned seconds sitting in his desk, when he did finally stand, it was clumsy and awkward.

"U-uh..." he stuttered. "Hi."

"Tell us a little about yourself. Your name. Where you're from, etc." he muttered while leaning against his desk, his arms crossed.

Leo's palms began to sweat, so he curled them into fists. There wasn't a place he didn't want to be more than right here, right now. Along with the rest of the class, Isaac sat there with his eyes pasted on him, expecting him to share information about him. His smirk never left his face as if silently telling him that they had unfinished business he wanted to settle with him. As if his life couldn't get any more complicated... If Leo shared his real name, Isaac would know he was lying, therefore, showing that he had felt intimidated yesterday during their run-in. That was something he tried hard to avoid showing bullies or anyone intending to cause him trouble because they always got the upper hand that way. They knew they had the chance to push him around if he was intimidated, and they took advantage of it most times. On the second hand, lying about his name would only delay everyone from finding out the truth. He was sure some of them already new what his name was. Bronwyn, Trent, and Andy did. Principle Wells and the rest of the teachers did too. It would be inevitable that his real name would seep out some time or another. And then Isaac and his gang would definitely know that Leo was intimidated by them.

Having no other choice, he decided to tell the truth, purposely avoiding eye contact with Isaac.

"M-my name is Leo Valdez," he started shakily. "I'm sixteen. Uh... I grew up in Houston, Texas. Before I moved here, I traveled quite a lot to different states and even visited a few different countries. Guess you can say I've been around," he tried at a smirk even though his attempt at a bit of humor just took a belly flop. This wasn't going too well and the distraction of Isaac wasn't helping. "I, uh... Yeah. Yeah, that's about it," and he sat back down, feeling no better than an idiot.

"Thank you, Leo, for sharing with us," Mr. Grosling murmured. "We are all happy to meet you and all hope that you will enjoy your time here with us at Yonkers High School."

Leo nodded once, feeling everyone's eyes on him. He'd been stared at enough this morning already to last several lifetimes. Cookie, Alice, the people at school... More than anything, he wanted to curl up into a ball and disappear. More than anything, he wished he could cross his fingers and appear back at camp with Calypso at his side. None of that was going to happen though.

For the remainder of the class, Leo sat in silence, not bothering to put his hand up even though he knew the answers. He pretended to work hard on the sheets he was given, but instead drew stick figures and random shapes. When class ended, he purposely squeezed himself into the crowd so Isaac couldn't single him out. On top of that, he headed the opposite direction from his locker so Isaac wouldn't follow and learn where he could find him. He had no idea if the guy was actually even following him, but it was better to play it safe than to assume he had nothing to worry about.

Making a wide circle around the school, he was back at the main entrance next to the principle's office. His locker was just around the corner. Just as he turned the corner, he almost ran into a well-built teenage guy who was busy talking to his friends. Leo's heart almost jumped right out of his chest before realizing it was Trent Shaw and a couple dudes from the football team, evident by their football jackets.

"Oh, sorry, man. Didn't see you," Leo apologized. Oddly though, Trent only made brief eye contact with him before continuing with his conversation, not even saying a single word to him, like he didn't even see him there. Didn't he recognize him? Leo didn't see many Latino students that attended this school so it would be hard for a person to simply not recognize him. He understood if the guy was in the middle of a conversation with his friends, but everyone else had at least offered him a friendly hello, even those who hadn't seen him before. Was this even the same guy that showed up for the private orientation? Trent Shaw was not as sociable with him as he had been only a week ago.

Slightly confused, Leo continued on his way at a slower pace, trying to understand Trent's sudden odd behavior. After he opened his locker though, he decided to let it go. It wasn't as if he really cared that much anyway. If things worked out the way Leo planned, he'd be out of here before he made many more run-ins with Trent or any other of the students.

"Well, if it isn't _Sam Lopez_ ," a snide voice came from behind him. Immediately, Leo felt his blood turn cold, and that was not an easy fate since he was a fire user. How in the world did he know where to find him? Leo even went out of his way to lose him. Why did everyone have to keep sneaking up behind him?

Feeling disappointed his plan to shake him off his tail didn't work, he grabbed his Chemistry textbook and forced a look of innocence. "Who?"

Isaac and his three minions stood in a circle, cornering him into his locker. The smirk he still had made every second it was on his face, confirm all the more that he was an A+ asshole. "Oh, sorry. Or is it _Leo Valdez_ now? You see, I think we're a little confused about that. You go by different names each day, or what?"

"Sure!" he grinned impishly. "Keeps it interesting. You don't?"

"Well, I suppose I do have to remember that your mind works different than the rest of us."

Leo felt his smile fade a little at that comment. "What the hell is that supposed to mean?"

Isaac leaned forward a little with his eyes wider as if he hadn't heard him. "Hm? Oh, nothing," he said as if he honestly didn't mean anything by it. "Just saying that you're newer to this school. It takes time to adjust to the atmosphere here."

"Oh. You know it's funny 'cause that explanation didn't seem to fit the comment you told me just a few seconds ago."

"Didn't it?" One of the guys behind Isaac whispered something to another dude. They snickered and continued to watch Leo being cornered like cat and mouse. "I'll have to admit, _Valdez_ , I got pretty excited when I first saw you sitting in that desk," Isaac went on, wrapping his arm around Leo like they were best buds. "Learning that we're already in the same calculus class - both our first class of the day - I realized it could give us a chance to get to know one another better, right? I mean, how could we not? After meeting at the corner store yesterday and then again today, it's like fate. We could really be great friends. The rest of my guys wouldn't mind gettin' to know you too."

Leo made a face like he was "disappointed" and shrugged his arm off his shoulders. "Er, that's too bad. Truth is, I don't really have that much time for friends these days. Too much settling in... and stuff."

"Oh, I don't think we would take up much of your time at all anyway," he smiled. There was something behind it though, something hinting that he had other plans rather than just getting to know each other. It wouldn't surprise Leo if it had something to do with taking advantage of being the stronger dude with a group to back him up. In fact, he _knew_ that was the reason he came to talk with him.

"Well as much as I would _love_ to hang out with you and your gang of skateboard buddies, I really have to head to my next class. Hey, look!" he said cheerily while making his way past them, "I already have the books in my arms. I think I'll just go and -" He was suddenly pushed up against his locker, Isaac's arm pinning him across the chest. His gang drew closer.

Isaac's face lost the same kind of politeness it held only moments earlier and was replaced with a cold glare despite his small smile. "Look. I've been trying to play it nice, but obviously, you haven't been getting my drift. So, I guess I'll have to make myself a little more clear to you. You're not getting away as easily as you did yesterday, got that? You were lucky then. Now, you're in a whole different scenario. You don't have the public eye on your side. I rule the school here. You'll learn that very quickly. And you? You're just a nobody, a newbie in this city. You've got no title over me."

Yup. That's what he was waiting for. His day just got a whole lot worse and he hadn't even reached his second class yet.

"But," Isaac continued, his tone changing a little. "I have a way that could possibly get you on my good side; a way that will help me forget your little jabs you gave me at the corner store."

"Yeah? And what's that?"

He pulled back his arm and studied him for a moment. A small smirk came to his lips. "Meet me at lunch. We'll discuss it there."

* * *

 **Part 1 done! And hey, since I haven't updated this story in such a long time, I'm going to be really great to you and update the next chapter before touching any other stories! Yay! I hope I made you excited! Besides, this is a part 1 and 2. I just _gotta_ group them together. ;)**

 **You know the drill. Review and continue on reading.**

 **(Sorry for taking such a long time to post)**

 **~supworld-issa-tiger~**


	11. The First Day of School: Part 2

**So here we have part 2! In this chapter, we'll learn more about Isaac and his gang! Excited?**

 **R** **eviews:**

KuroDeity: **Haha! So am I. XD I laughed at it anyway though. Sorry if I offended at all... XP #catsrule  
**

LonelySkeleton013: **You will find out very soon. All you have to do is read!**

Hanakoori13: **Yeah. Isaac is a bit of trouble for Leo. As said above, you'll learn more about this tough guy in this new chapter. And thank you very much! :)**  


Guest: **You make me smile! :) It's comments like yours that keep me motivated to continue! Please read on. :)  
**

 **Again, I want to thank all my supportive readers. You keep me posting! You know, we make a really great team. ;)  
**

 **P.S. As I have only ever homeschooled, I'll let you know that I don't actually know what schools are like. I apologize if things don't line up or don't make sense in a school setting. I'm willing to accept pointers or helpful criticism for extra help from any one of you lovely people. I'm almost clueless when it comes to public school... DX  
**

 **P.P.S _A new story on the way!_ So I have another idea for a story that I'm creating. It's called _A Thousand Ways to Live. _If you are interested to know what it's about, I've already posted it. However, I only have a introduction to what the story will be about so far as I don't have any chapters ready to post yet. I will in time. Keep an eye on it and tell me what you think of the idea!  
**

 **WARNINGS:** **RACISM**

 **SHOUT OUT!  
I own those you do not recognize**

* * *

 **~Leo's POV~  
**

Leo made several self introductions throughout the other classes. No one he knew were in them other than Andy Wibit in social, thank the gods, but it didn't mean it was any more comforting. Strangers still stared. It was true that they were nice though. In fact, just before he settled down into each class, a few of the other students went out of their way to say hello and shake hands with him, sharing with him their own names. He was more than certain he'd forget every single one of them though.

When it came to the actual class, he found it very hard to concentrate on anything. All that was running through his head was what Isaac wanted from him. He'd admit, he was actually feeling rather nervous about it. Here he was, a teen who could fight monsters on a regular basis with absolutely no problem, feeling anxious about some guy at school? What did that make him? A wimp? Even after everything he's been through in his past quests, he's still afraid to confront a bully. And not knowing what the dude wanted with him only added the stress. He'd tried thinking of a way to avoid meeting Isaac at lunch throughout his classes. He'd been able to do something similar with different situations in his past. Unfortunately, he didn't have any ideas why he couldn't meet with him that would sound legit. If Isaac followed him around the school after chemistry just to catch up to him and "talk", what made Leo think he wouldn't do it again? Isaac would hunt him down if he didn't show up like he'd asked. Then what happened next was up to his imagination. Sadly, Leo's imagination was much too accurate sometimes.

With homework adding up already, classes finally broke for lunch. Not feeling hungry anymore, Leo wished he could skip it all together. In fact, he was feeling anxious enough that he debated calling Alice to take him back home. He didn't want any trouble with Isaac and was regretting saying anything to him yesterday at the corner store. Despite this feeling though, he knew he couldn't just run and hide from an issue that was going to catch up to him anyway. It would only make things worse.

He almost laughed when he caught himself thinking that way. Pretty ironic coming from a runaway.

Leo still had his schedule/map of the school with him in his pocket. Taking it out once his books were put back in his locker, he studied it with a bit of difficulty to find the cafeteria. A few seconds into it though, he gave up the struggle he was putting his brain through and decided to simply follow the crowd. He realized afterwards that finding the cafeteria wasn't actually that hard anyway.

Walking through a set of doors, Leo found himself walking into a wide, open space filled with colorful tables spread out everywhere inside and outdoors, divided only by a wall of windows and a set of double doors. The cafeteria bar sat to his right with a line of students already receiving their food or waiting patiently. Those who chose not to eat the cafeteria food and packed their own lunches sat at different colored tables, all talking among themselves. Just studying them from where he stood, Leo could easily make out the cliques, the obvious one being the cheerleaders. Sitting at the table closest to the outside doors, was Trent and his football buddies, laughing and teasing one another. He didn't seem so cold with _them_.

Making his way to the line for his own lunch, Leo made an effort to look out for Isaac or any of his followers. He didn't see him anywhere yet, but he was sure he'd come around at some point. Until then, he planned on keeping a safe distance from anyone he didn't really know. Apparently, as Isaac had told him, he ruled the school. Whether it was out of fear or admiration that everyone let him walk all over them, he didn't really know. In his eyes, Isaac was a controller. If things didn't go his way, he tried hard to get what he wanted anyway. And if he did own the school, how many people would be on his side on their own free will? Introductions before class were one thing. Risking Isaac walking in while he conversed with other students who might end up being on Isaac's team was a risk he didn't really want to take right at the moment.

He watched his tray come back to him filled with fish and chips alongside a bottle of water. Accepting it, he turned to face the students filling the tables at a rapid pace and swallowed hard. Free seats were being filled as groups moved in. Even the tables outside were popular. He wasn't really sure where to go. There were so many people.

At that point, he caught himself searching the sea of students for a certain pink-haired girl. Bronwyn and Andy were probably the only two people in this entire school that he trusted even a little bit. Thinking that, however, made him wonder if they were the kind to look up or fear Isaac and his bullies. Was Bronwyn the kind of girl to swoon at the mere sight of the guy, or shy away? What if she and Andy, too, were on Isaac's side?

Suddenly, he saw a hand shoot up from a yellow table, a voice calling out his name. He'd found Bronwyn smiling at him from across the cafeteria, waiting for him to join her. With no better option, he moved towards the yellow table.

Making his way past others, he took a seat beside her. Andy was also there with a book opened but didn't bother to say hi. Instead, he took a bite without lifting his gaze off the page.

"Hey, Leo," Bronwyn smiled bubbly. "So... you made it past first period! Yay! How're you feeling? Are you fitting in? Making new friends?"

He couldn't help but laugh at her. "You sound like a mom who just picked her kid up from the bus stop."

Her cheeks flushed a little. "Sorry. But did you? How's everything going so far?"

With a shrug, he took a bite of his fish. "Fine, I guess. It's the first day. What do you expect?"

"I know," she said with a pouty face. "I really struggled on my first day. The introductions were horrid. You know I'm not that good with public speaking so I stuttered a lot and tripped on my words. Most embarrassing thing to have to remember. Honestly though, that's how every introduction goes for me. My mind blanks out and then I'm stuck having to work with speaking on the fly, and oh, man. I'm not good at that. How 'bout you? You do well with public speaking?"

"Uh, no. Not really. I tend to avoid talking to large groups if I can help it. I don't think they can handle my coolness, you know?"

She leaned on her elbow and looked at him. "That surprises me. You look like you do very well with persuading people. I feel that you can hold a confident stature quite easily if you push yourself to."

Impressed, he nodded his head. "Thanks. That's quite the compliment." He suddenly dropped his fish back on his plate and made an disgusted face. "This food is seriously hard to eat. My fish doesn't even have a taste."

"How can your food be disgusting if it doesn't have a taste?" Andy suddenly asked, finally looking up. "If there is no taste, it would be neither good, nor bad."

"Who wants to eat food that doesn't taste like anything?"

"Touche."

Bronwyn grimaced. "Yeah, we don't have good food here. And hey! I was wondering; do you mind if we exchange numbers? Knowing that we all don't get to, you know, hang out other than at lunch, maybe we could spend some time, the three of us maybe - four if Trent agrees to come - together outside of school? Mrs. Hammel has probably introduced you to a bunch of people already, but I doubt any of them are close to your own age. I'm free anytime other than on Tuesdays. I have mat class that day. You could give me a shout any time and I'd totally be up for it. Maybe give you a bit of a tour around town or something. I bet there are places I could show you that you probably would have missed without my help."

Whoa, hold on. Was she asking him out? At first she was talking as if both him and her, along with Andy and Trent, could hang out sometime. That would be perfectly fine. But then she completely excluded Trent and Andy afterwards and went on as if they weren't even mentioned. Maybe now was the time he told her that he already had a girlfriend.

"What would he possibly miss?" Andy interrupted before he had the chance. "Everything's right in your face. Unless you want to hang out at a bar or a club of some sort on the further side of town. And even those don't hide."

"Well, I don't _know_ ," Bronwyn said with a tone that sounded as if she was a little annoyed with him. "Some places could be harder to spot. It took me a while to find the new rec center."

"Seriously?"

She took a bite of her food with a sheepish shrug. "I don't live in that area. And hey!" she suddenly perked up. "That's a great idea! We should plan a day to go swimming or something! I'll call you up this week and we should go! Have you ever out-climbed a girl at rock climbing before, Leo?" she asked him teasingly.

He opened his mouth and barely gave an answer before being cut off. "No, but - "

"Really? Then we _have_ to go. You look out for my phone call 'cause it's a _must_. What's your number?" she asked already getting her phone out.

He scratched his head, hoping he could wriggle out of this. "Sorry. I don't actually have a phone."

"Oh, well that's fine. I've got Mrs. Hammel's number already in my contact list. What day works best for you?"

"Um..." He hesitated. "I dunno. What about you, Andy?" he asked, hoping to pull him into it. "What day are you free?"

Looking a little surprised, he set his juice back down. "Oh, uh... Wait. You want me to come?"

"Pft, why not?" Leo smirked, hoping he wouldn't be singled out. "The more the merrier. I mean, I don't want Bronwyn here to have only one person to race against. How 'bout a race between all three of us? Trent can even come too if he wanted."

Bronwyn's smile faded a little. "Oh, I don't know if Trent has the time. I'm actually surprised he agreed to come to the orientation thing last week. He's a busy guy."

Somehow, that didn't surprise Leo. "That's okay. Just the three of us can go then."

"I've never been rock climbing," Andy mumbled quietly as if afraid anyone would hear.

Just then, from the corner of his eye, Leo noticed a new figure walking around the cafeteria. Students were still arriving and even some leaving, so it was a total coincidence that he looked up in that moment to find Isaac walk away from the line with a platter of food. His three minions were close behind, picking at each other like always. Settling down at one of the tables closest to the glass window, they joined a group of other kids, two of them girls.

Leo groaned inwardly. Was it too late to back out? Seeing Isaac was his signal to approach and talk with him. Unfortunately - or fortunately, he wasn't quite sure which - his legs wouldn't respond to the signal. They stayed planted on his seat with no movement to get up. It was like they were part of a malfunctioning machine where something wasn't hooked up right and no matter how many times he demanded them to move, they didn't. Part of him wanted to just go with it and forget the whole thing. The other was scared of what would happen if he did.

"Earth to Leo," Bronwyn said waving her hand in front of his face. "Are you in Leo Land? What are you looking at?"

He pulled his attention back to his table. "Oh, sorry. No, I was just..." He turned back to look at Isaac, who was in turn glancing around the room looking for him. He sighed and grumbled, "I'll be right back."

Finally managing to get up, he began walking away without answering her question about where he was going. As much as he wished he didn't have to meet up with Isaac, he realized this was a chance to get out of the conversation he was having with Bronwyn. She was nice and all, but it didn't feel right talking about such things when he knew he had a girl already. By stepping away - quite literally - he could end it right there without hurting her feelings.

Sooner than he wanted to, he stood before Isaac's table where he sat with his friends. "You asked me to meet you, so here I am," he grinned impishly with open arms.

From his group, Isaac smiled up at him and set his wrap down on his tray. "Ah, Mexico! I was just talking about you. Curious about my proposition, are we? Glad to hear it."

He tried hard not to show his irritation with the nickname he gave him. "More like I came to hear the proposition I would be turning down."

"Oh," he laughed with his group. One of the girls with short red hair smirked with a raised eyebrow. "See, this is why I kinda like you. You got attitude. Unfortunately, it'll get you in trouble if you continue with it. I'd hate to have to show you why."

 _Yeah. I bet._

He slid to the side and made room on the bench. Patting at the open seat, he said cheerfully, "Sit with us and let's talk."

Not having any other option, he obeyed.

"Now," Isaac began. "As you know, you've made quite the impression on me and my friends. Thankfully, I'm gonna offer you a way to fix all that, almost like it never happened." Taking a bite of his lunch, he continued. "I'm going to cut right to the chase. You see, there are a few things my friends and I don't have time for. We're fairly busy with things after school."

"Like what?" Leo dared to ask.

He gave him a look. "Hey, that's none of your business, is it? The point is, whenever we have things we gotta do on top of all those outside activities and stuff, our days get even more crammed than they already should be. So, here's what I'm thinking..."

Leo looked around the table and made eye contact with a few of the people he was sitting with. His three followers were there as well as new faces he'd seen around the school, some even in the same classes as him. Wonderful.

Isaac swallowed his food and lazily pointed his finger at him. "Everyday at school - or maybe even outside of school, we'll see - since I'm in the very first class with you anyway, I'm gonna start you off with what I'm personally going to need help with that I probably won't have time to do myself. I might add different things here and there throughout the day whether I realize I forgot something or whatever. There won't be very many things, so don't worry. Of course though, my friends here might ask for things as well. Basically though, you're just filling in for us for certain things."

Picking up the blackmail vibe from him, Leo gave him a look edging a glare. "You're sugar coating it, Isaac. What is it you really want from me?"

He nodded like he was impressed. "Smart kid." Leaning on the table, he glanced over at his friends and they all shared a smirk. Turning back to Leo, he said, "You upset us, Valdez. Like I told you earlier, my friends and I own the school. You need to be taught your place. You do what we tell you, you won't get any broken bones. So of course, if you're as smart as you show us to be, logic should tell you that if you disobey or try to fight back, there are consequences. People around here seem to respect me and my gang. We respect them back. So," he shrugged, "when we see someone who causes trouble, we gotta do something about it."

Someone who causes trouble? Leo wanted to tell him that he wasn't even the one who started their spat. Isaac and his friends ganged up on him for absolutely _no_ reason. What right did they have to say that _he_ was the one causing trouble?! All he wanted to do was get his snack and be left alone. It was self defense that they got back from him. What else was he supposed to have done? The minute they saw him, they jumped on him. It was starting to feel way too personal for this to be the same kind of treatment Isaac would give some other nerd or newbie. This was specifically for him.

Isaac pat his back. "You'll learn soon enough. Just do as we say, and nothing happens. We start tomorrow morning." Shooing him away like a pesky fly, Leo was kicked away from the table and left standing there staring at them.

There were so many words he wanted to shout at Isaac. In all these years, he didn't think he was pulled into bullying this deep before. They were taking full advantage of him here. How the hell was he supposed to get out of this one?

Realizing he was still standing at their table, Isaac waved at him, breaking him out of his stare. "Uh, bye. That was your cue to leave."

Leo breathed in and bit his lip in anger, consciously keeping himself from bursting into flames. He didn't even dare open his mouth to say anything at that moment either. If something came out, it sure the hell wouldn't be something they'd want to hear. Then he was pretty sure they would sock him in the gut. So, trying to keep his calm, he slowly turned around and began walking away.

"Hey," one of the other guys at the table called out. "Where's your tool belt?" The table laughed and Leo forced himself to continue walking, all the while muttering under his breath to just ignore them.

Back at the yellow table where his new friends were, Bronwyn jumped off her seat at the near sight of him coming their way and grabbed onto one of his arms. She wasn't smiling this time.

"Leo, what do you think you were doing?!" she cried as she pulled him to his seat. "You can't just go talk with them! They're the _Newman's_ gang! No one ever does something so straight forward!"

"The Newman's gang? Is that what they call themselves?" He cringed. "They need a new name."

"They call themselves that because most of them are Newman's. At least three of them are cousins and two are brother and sister. The other two are close friends. The Newman family is widely known around here. Isaac's parents have owned one the most successful businesses in Yonkers for seven years now. Oliver and Mia's dad is one of its managers. The entire family sits at the top, making more money than you could count. They're highly respected people."

"And because of this, they're all of a sudden better than everyone else?" Leo shook his head in bewilderment. "You know, I'm beginning to understand why they think they own the school."

"But they do. They're telling the truth."

"Yeah," Andy spoke up from his quiet corner. "Even the teachers let them get their way most times. They fear their parents will sue them or something."

Leo looked between the two of them. "And what about the students? What do they do about them?"

Andy turned his attention back to his book. Bronwyn shrugged. "If I'm being honest, not a whole lot. In fact, Isaac and his group don't _actually_ do that much trouble. The worst they usually do without anyone leading them on is pick on a couple newbies and act better than everyone else. In that way, they really aren't that bad. Just a bunch of tough guys who strive to make their point."

This struck Leo's curiosity. "Okay, then why was it such a big deal that I go talk with them?"

" _Because_ ," she stressed. "When you show that kind of directness, they assume you're there to challenge them. They'll get defensive and stop at nothing to keep you below them. People like them," she nodded at their table, "are the kind where you need to learn to back off. If you don't give them a reason to push you around, they won't. In that way, they can be rather respectable."

He laughed without humor. "You respect _that_? Come on."

Rolling her eyes, Bronwyn sighed. "No, of course not. But they are usually pretty good about giving people some distance. Sometimes though, one of the Newman guys gets upset with a student or something. They make sure they don't cause them any more trouble after that, if you know what I mean. So, you know, it's unfortunately not just talk all the time. Just don't get on their bad side."

Understanding the gist of it now, and also feeling slightly panicked, Leo took a sip of his water and twisted the lid back on. He was already on Isaac's bad side. "So that's how they rule the school. They fight for the top and make sure they stay there. Hasn't anyone stood up to them at all? Surely you can't all be okay with all this."

"Like I said," she muttered while taking a bite of her egg salad sandwich. "They'll become defensive when confronted. No one has had the guts to actually do it before. That's why I was so shocked that you, of all people being the new guy, would dare do something like walk over and actually _sit_ at their table with them. Were you thinking straight at all?"

Andy looked up at him again with squinted eyes. "How in the world did you convince them to let you sit at their table anyway?"

Bronwyn's eyebrows furrowed at that statement and glanced at him the same way, looking for answers. "Yeah. How?"

"Hey now," he put his hands up in defense. "I just got lucky, I guess. That, or, of course, I'm just way too cool to turn down."

The expressions on both their faces made it obvious they were suspicious.

"What did you want with them anyway?" Bronwyn asked. "Not even the people that interact with them the most here at Yonkers High are able to have a full conversation with them that easily."

With his arms out wide, he tried for his best smile to hide his crumbling confidence. "As I said: I'm just that cool."

* * *

English was one of his last classes of the day, so, of course, Leo's brain was about mush at that point. Staring at equations and historic facts on the wipe boards and worksheets made him so dizzy from his dyslexia, all he wanted was to shut his eyes and sleep for a few years. As the day progressed, he found himself struggling more and more to keep up with everyone. This of course, wasn't new to him though. He's lived his whole life trying to keep up in school. Except for math. He was usually done first in that class, thanks to his dad's bloodline. No one really ever noticed his struggle, but like usual, he hides those kinds of things pretty well. Besides, his dyslexia wasn't that bad compared to Percy. He probably wouldn't have been able to read half the things Leo could on those boards. For that reason, Leo was counting his blessings. He might not be fast at reading, but at least he could.

Ms. Richards, the apparently cranky, old-fashioned, elderly woman, had just shut the door to the classroom and begun her class. Naturally, a Newman was in his class again. Mia, was it? She was at the table with Isaac and the rest at lunch. She had the same blonde hair he did and a smirk that matched his own. "Jerk" was written all over her face.

"Good day, everyone," Ms. Richards nodded at them, holding her hands politely in front of her. "I'm glad to see you all again after summer break."

The response of the students was much less enthusiastic. Mumbles and uttered "me too"'s were only half-hearted. Ms. Richards didn't seem to care as she went on. "Today, we're going to be focusing on the importance of grammar."

The rest of the class was actually pretty chill. Ms. Richards spent most of the time talking and explaining certain things she was wanting to work on this school year with everyone. Of course though, even if the first English class for the year was laid back, the homework was enough to make him cry inwardly. She assigned them each a two page essay about what they thought was one of the best ways to spend a summer break helping out people in need. She called it an easy start, however, the list of what she was looking for in each essay was giving Leo a migraine. He was more than glad to be finished the class when the bell rang. Now all he hoped for was a good grade and to finish this thing on time. With it being due on Wednesday, that gave him two days. If not, he'd be writing on the wipe board the whole class.

Leo sat on the school front steps waiting for Alice to pick him up. His backpack sat right beside him and his elbow was supporting his head resting in his hand. Students passed him and gathered into groups once more, making plans about meeting up after school. Others went directly to their cars and drove off. Leo didn't have a license or even a permit. He hadn't even had the chance. Living at camp meant you didn't really get involved with what the outside world teaches for survival. He hadn't really needed a license. If he did in a certain situation, he just borrowed a car. It wasn't like he didn't know how to drive one.

"Have a good day, Leo," Bronwyn smiled down at him as she ran to catch her ride. "Remember to look out for my call! I still plan on beating you in rock climbing!"

"Yeah," he waved watching her take the passengers seat. "See you."

The car door shut and she drove off with her mom.

Finally, after about ten minutes more, it was his turn to be picked up. As Alice drove up to the curb, he shouldered his bag and opened the front door. He took his seat and buckled up, not even bothering to look up at her curious expression. She was going to ask how his day was. He didn't want to answer.

Sure enough, as they pulled out of the parking lot, Alice turned her gaze at him for a short moment before looking back at the road. "So... how was it? Did you find Bronwyn and the others?"

He nodded and stared out the window. It should be obvious that he didn't want to talk. Either not knowing or not caring, she pushed for conversation anyway.

"That's good. I was worried you wouldn't find a familiar face in the crowd. I'm glad you did. And I'm sorry you had to wait so long on those stairs. Work piled up. My next shift isn't until Friday though, so you shouldn't have to worry about sitting there like that for the next few days."

"It's fine," he murmured. "I wasn't sitting there for that long anyway."

"Oh, well, I'll try to keep the wait short anyway." She turned a corner. "I was thinking, Leo, that maybe we could eat out for supper tonight. What do you think? Would you like to grab a bite to eat before we go home?"

Looking at the clock, he said, "It's only 3:30 in the afternoon."

"Well then we don't have to eat a meal if you don't want to. Maybe a milkshake?"

... _T_ _hat did sound good after his long day..._

"Uh," he paused, rolling it over in his head. Then he shrugged. "Sure. Okay."

Obviously pleased that he accepted her offer, she smiled at him and sat back in her seat as if a small weight had been taken off her shoulders. "Alright then. Milkshakes it is!"

* * *

 **There you have it folks! Part 2 of Leo's first day of school! Lot's going on again, so that obviously means there will be more interesting chapters ahead of us!**

 **Reminder! I'm creating a new story called _A Thousand Ways to Live_. Make sure you look out for it! Introduction is posted already. Check it out!**

 **Alright. I'm done. Bye.**

 **~supworld-issa-tiger~**


	12. Meanwhile, in California

**Merry belated Christmas and a Happy New Year! Hope it was a great one for all of you! Mine was. :) I don't know how long it has been exactly since I updated this story, but I know it was sometime last year. Long enough for me... maybe too long.**

 **But now...** **Oh boy oh boy oh boy oh boy! Here we are again! One of my favorite stories to update! ^U^ Can you believe we are only on chapter 12? I would have thought things would have gone a little quicker. But then again, I have the story in my head so I know what's all going to happen, and now coming back to this story and seeing where it sits at the moment makes it feel like it's going so slow! However, that also means there are many more chapters where this came from! XD Excited? I am!  
**

 **Seriously guys! The curve balls coming our way... If you only _knew_! :O**

tournee-de-la-ladybug: **Aww! Thanks! The last 2 chapters were only the start of it all. And you should totally check my other story out! I have the first chapter out and working on the second. ;)**

Sivahna Stokes: **I have updated for you! Sorry it took so long. I'm _hopefully_ going to buy myself a new laptop very soon, so updates will very likely speed up then! I'll try my best for you guys!  
**

 **WARNINGS: SMALL SUGGESTIVE MENTION  
**

* * *

 **~Piper's POV!**

Classes were dragging out and Piper couldn't fully concentrate on any of them properly. Concern filled her mind. The one thing that made being stuck in a classroom for most of the day tolerable was Jason. He'd agreed to come to California with her for the winter and her dad was happy to invite him. Despite his busy schedule, he recently made an effort to take some down time to spend time with her and her boyfriend, whom he didn't know other than what she had told him. It's surprising really, a father seeming to be okay with the whole idea that his only daughter was in the middle of a relationship with a stranger in his eyes. At the same time though, he seemed to trust her and her decisions now, something he hadn't been able to do when that stupid secretary took control of everything. She was relieved her dad was in favor with meeting Jason, nonetheless, and that he was welcome to spend the school year with them. It had been a full week and the two guys seemed to be hitting it off pretty well.

The lingering concern she felt though wasn't because of being back at school, nor the effect of her dad meeting her boyfriend properly for the first time. She had known her dad would like Jason even before they caught their flight to California. The unease that sat in her gut was the result of their trio now shrinking into a duo. Knowing that Leo was no longer waiting for them at camp really affected her. She felt like they had just abandoned him in the hands of a complete stranger. The image that came to her mind each time she thought of him was when they saw him last: Mr. Ryan Matthews, Leo's new social worker, had been leading him out the doors of the police station while Leo looked back, silently bagging them to help him. And what did they do? They just left, as if everything was perfectly normal. Sure, papers were being made to get him back, but what were they doing in the meantime? They all went to school, some of them in completely different states miles away. She was sure some of them were Iris Messaging him whenever they could and he the same, but it wasn't the same. Piper felt like a horrible friend. How could she leave without at least seeing him in person?

"What's wrong?" Jason's voice snapped her out of her thoughts. He had just sat down on the couch next to her with a cheese and and ham sandwich. "You look deep in thought."

"I am."

"Were you even watching the movie at all?"

A sheepish half-hearted smile spread across her face, guilty. "I guess I have too many thoughts going on inside my head to concentrate right now."

For a little celebration that she was back home, Piper's dad had insisted that they spend some quality time together, just the three of them, laying back and watching movies and eating popcorn. They were in the middle of _The_ _Lord of the Rings_ marathon, the extended edition, and were halfway through the _Two Towers_. In all honesty, as much as she enjoyed those movies, she was probably unable to tell you which part they were at. She'd been daydreaming for most of it.

"What about?" he asked taking a bite.

She sighed. "Leo."

A knowing look came to him as he placed his sandwich back on its plate and adjusted himself so he was sitting a little closer. It was almost amusing the way he was afraid to sit too close to her while her dad was there. Lucky him, he got an important phone call he had to take and was now talking outside on the porch. "Me too. I haven't been able to sleep at night because of him. I'm haunted by the memory of him being tackled to the ground ever since he's been gone," Jason said in a grim tone.

"Same. And _I'm_ the one that could have easily persuaded the officers to let him go. But I didn't because I thought using my charmspeak was 'unfair to mortals'." She moaned at herself and laid her head back on the couch cushion. "Why do I have to care so much about the little things?"

"Pipes, we made that decision as a _whole_. You're not the only one to avoid using our powers against mortals. That rule kind of made itself. Even so, we all stick to it, even Leo."

"Yeah, but you can _see_ fire. Charmspeak, you can't. It just happens."

He didn't respond right away, which only made her feel worse knowing that he agreed even a little bit. "Logic tells me that it's not all that fair to sit and blame ourselves for all of this. It's hard, I know. I feel just as bad, but none of us asked for any of this to happen. We had no idea this was coming."

"We've dealt with multiple unknown situations before and got out of them just fine," she fought back, looking him in the eyes. "This one wasn't even dangerous. Don't you feel like we could have done _more_?"

"Of course I do. I honestly feel like a piece of crap letting him go so easily. I really do. Gods, if I could go back and change what happened..." he muttered with frustration, his expression filled with guilt, "... I would, okay? I _definitely_ would. And you know? I'm supposed to be one of his best friends and I just..." He sighed and was silent a moment, his fingers tapping against his plate. "I thought for sure we could get him back the same day. I promised Calypso we would... There are so many things I wish we could have done differently, but," he sighed. "We can't change the past. There's no point in all those should-a, could-a, would-a's. It isn't right to beat ourselves up like that."

She looked down at her hands. The things he was saying she knew to be true, but it didn't cover the guilt she felt. Leo was pretty much her own brother. They've known each other for a long time now and were very close. The others weren't able to do much to stop the officers so they had nothing to feel so guilty about. They honestly didn't have the opportunity to help him. Piper, on the other hand, was the perfect person to have done the job... if only she did it. At the same time though, she couldn't say she didn't try at all. It would be a lie if she said that. She _had_ attempted to use her charmspeak through the noisy crowd of bystanders and the constant cussing from Leo and the officers, but she wasn't loud enough. Foolishly, she decided that shouting at the top of her lungs was unnecessary at the time. Gods, how selfish was she? And when he was being taken away with Mr. Matthews; she could have easily persuaded him to let Leo go. Why didn't she do that?

"Oh, no you don't," Jason suddenly said. "I know that look. Stop blaming yourself."

"But, Jason, if you only -"

"No. Stop it." He took her hand and focused all his attention on her. "Piper McLean, I know the kind of person you are, and you would never, _ever_ let anything happen to the ones you love if you could help it. Look at you and your determination to save your father. You could have easily talked us into blindly walking into that trap to save him, but you didn't want anything happen to us either. You could have easily betrayed us to get what you wanted. In fact, you could take advantage of every person out there because of your charmspeak, but you choose to use it wisely and responsibly. You actually _care_. There are so many people out there that would use that gift in such horrible and unfair ways. And there are, we've seen. So if you still deny that you are a kind and selfless person, then I'm a son of Poseidon."

Squeezing his hand, she tried for a smile. "Thank you, Jason, but you don't understand. I appreciate your kind words, however, because of my gift, it makes everything so much more complicated. There are bad ways to use it, yes, and there are good ways too. This was one of them and I didn't take the chance serious enough. I could have persuaded the officers if I would have used my gift at it's full potential."

Adjusting himself so he was facing her on the couch, he looked directly at her. "This has to stop right now. It isn't your fault, we're all taking a part in fixing this whole thing, and Leo _will_ be with us again. You weren't the only one there that day. We all could have done something. Now wipe that guilt off your face and accept the fact that we are all human. We make mistakes. We get ourselves into situations, but we can get out of them. Now no more of this pity party."

That effectively shut her up, so much so, that she was kinda taken back with her mouth slightly hanging open. Jason had never been that strict with her. Not that it was bad, but she learned that there was definitely another side to her boyfriend that she hadn't seen before.

Coming over her shock, she sighed and tried for a smile. "Okay, you win. I'm stressing too much. I get it. It's just... I don't know what to do now. It feels so wrong to continue our lives when we know one of our friends is stuck and in need of help. Sure they're making papers but you know what I mean."

"I do."

Piper tucked her legs up to her chest and rested her head against Jason's shoulder, remembering what life was like before the Grand Canyon field trip. Though Leo had still been considered an orphan and troublemaker there, he was where everyone knew where he was. Even there, at that horrible school, he was saved from foster care. Why now, was he being pulled back into it? He had always made comments during classes about being glad he wasn't in a home anymore, even if the school was horrible towards them.

"I wonder how he's doing," she murmured.

Wrapping his arm around her, he murmured. "Hard to say. I just hope he doesn't end up running off before we get the papers done. Annabeth said he gave his word he wouldn't, but he's Leo. He kind of makes up his own rules."

She laughed a little at that. "Oh yeah."

There was a lull in the conversation, leaving the two of them sitting in the silence. Crickets were chirping outside, creating an evening lullaby in the starry night. It was getting later, probably around 10:30, which was not smart of them on a school night. Yawning, she was about to tell him that she was about ready for bed and that he would have to apologize for her to her dad about not watching the rest of the movie with them. However, before she did, she got an idea. "You think Leo's awake right now?"

"Why?" Jason asked finishing his sandwich.

"Maybe we should Iris Message him and check up on how he's doing."

"Check up on who?" another voice answered from the doorway.

Looking over, she watched her dad shut the door again before fussing with is phone. Jason immediately tried pulling away from Piper, but she pulled him back with a small smirk. "Leo."

"Ah. The kid you met at that Wilderness School, right?" (Piper had had to fill him in on some things ever since he was captured so things wouldn't get too mixed up.) "How's he been doing? I haven't seen him for a while."

"Well... I don't think very well to be honest."

Her dad looked up at her with a little worry. "Oh? Why's that?"

Not really believing there was very much to hide from him, she told him what he would be able to understand. "He was reported missing without any of us knowing ever since that storm at the Grand Canyon. I guess they couldn't find him through all the commotion. A while ago, our group from camp were hanging out at McDonalds before we had to part ways for school and... he was found out by police and put into foster care again. I haven't been able to catch up with him since he was taken."

His face twisted with concern. "Really? And there wasn't any other option? I thought he was still going to that school."

"No. He goes to the same summer camp Jason and I go to."

"Oh. I see."

"I was just saying to Jason that we should phone him and check up on how he's doing."

He came and joined them on his lazy boy chair and set his phone on the side table. "I think it's a good idea. Being in that situations doesn't sound easy. You could use my phone if you want."

"Thanks, but Jason has a phone we could both use." She looked at her boyfriend who still seemed a little uncomfortable sitting this close to her while her dad sat in the same room. "Right? You think we could call him on your phone?"

He stood up and pretended to pat around his jeans for it. Obviously not having one, he pointed his thumb towards her room. "I think I left it in your room. We can just talk there."

Smiling at his slyness, she stood. "Sure."

"You know, if you want," her dad suddenly suggested, "I could find a way to get you guys back to New York to see him in person."

Excitement bubbled up inside of her hearing that. "Wait. What? Really? How? When?"

"Well not right away, since school just started. I want you guys to get some schooling done before jumping off again, but I could talk to them for the two of you. I don't think it will be very difficult for me to convince them that you have an emergency. After all, I _am_ an actor."

She surprised herself when she let out a squeal of excitement when hugging her dad. "Thank you so much! It would mean the world to us and Leo!" She kissed his cheek. "You have no idea! Jason, come one! We need to phone Leo!"

* * *

"Whoa, you look rough," Jason uttered after Leo sat up from his bed startled. Strangely, he wasn't under the covers.

Very much a victim of major bed head, Leo rubbed the sleep out of his eyes and tried to locate the person he was hearing. "Jason?" he said in a croaky voice. "Man, I wish there was some kind of warning when an Iris Message was gonna pop up. You're lucky I'm alone in my room."

"Why, has Calypso been visiting?" Jason asked teasingly with a raised eyebrow.

Leo's cheeks turned bright red. "Shut up. That's not what I meant. I mean that I was down here where I don't have to worry about Alice sighting her first Iris Message and then me having to explain it to her."

"Oh. Yeah. I guess we have to be careful about that. Say, were you trying to get to bed or something? We didn't mean to wake you."

He shook his head and ran a hand through his messy hair. "Nah. I fell asleep trying to study." He motioned to a pile of books on his bed, all open and scattered everywhere. "I don't even understand how people do it. Chemistry is the only subject I feel I understand. That and Calculus."

"Well have fun then." Piper smirked. "I never understood either of those."

"Pft... fun..." he muttered sleepily, resting his head on his hand. He looked only half awake. "What's making you call this late?"

Feeling a little guilty that they were interrupting both his homework and nap, she still went ahead and asked the question she hadn't been able to before. "We wanted to call you up and ask how you're feeling."

"Tired," he answered. He didn't even bother looking at them when he said it.

"Well we can see that," Jason said from beside her. "We meant about everything. How're you doing?"

The question made him pause for a moment. Using the hand he was resting his head on, he wiped his nose and dropped his hand back onto the bed. Wiping his nose was a habit Piper had picked up on whenever he was uncomfortable or unsure of something. In this case, Piper could see he was trying to think of how to answer. Unfortunately, that only meant that things weren't going as well as she would have hoped for him. "Fine, I guess. I mean, nothing's going to feel great while I'm stuck here. I'd much rather be back at camp with you guys."

Piper gave him a half smile. "That's understandable, I guess. How's school going?"

"Uh..." Again, there was a pause. "It's school. Nothing too exciting. Two of the people I met at the private orientation seem pretty cool. I get along with them alright, I suppose."

From his tone, she wasn't sure if there was something bugging him or if it was his drowsiness coming into play "Are you upset with us?" she dared to ask, not really sure she wanted an answer.

"Upset?" he asked confused. "No. Why would I be upset with you?"

Sitting on her bed beside her, Jason gave her a look telling her he wasn't going to go through this again. She was forced to push the topic away. "Oh, well I just thought you would be. Jason and I were talking earlier about everything that has happened. I feel like it was sort of my fault. If you're not upset, then let's just leave it."

"I've already told her multiple times it wasn't her fault," Jason quickly told him with an assuring tone.

Leo actually laughed a little at that. "I don't know why it would have been. Piper, you're weird."

" _You're_ weird," she fought back.

"Yeah, I know," he said in his usual impish grin, though it lacked the usual humor. Must have been from how tired he was. "How are you two doing over there?" he asked, changing the subject. "Has Jason been thrown out yet?"

"Hey!" Jason shouted at him.

Despite how things felt at the moment, she actually laughed. "Well obviously not since he's sitting right beside me on my bed."

"Darn."

"Leo! That's rude!"

Smiling like a child teasing his sibling, he stuck his tongue out. "Can't say I wasn't hoping for some hot drama happening over there. Make some things interesting, if you know what I mean," he winked. "I would have wanted stories! Ah, Jason's too perfect, isn't he? He can't get thrown out by his girlfriend's dad if it killed him."

Jason's eyebrows knit together. "Was that supposed to be an insult?"

"I don't know," Leo knit his own eyebrows together as if studying him for the first time. Then his face softened up and he waved his hand. "Nah, I was teasing. You're cool. I'm sure you and Mr. McLean get along pretty well. You and Pipe's are a good couple."

Rolling her eyes, Piper ignored her adoptive brother's humor. "Anyway, we have possible exciting news for you."

That got his attention faster than she had expected. "Really? 'Bout what? Are the papers almost done?"

"Er, I'm not sure. That wasn't really what I was referring to."

"Oh." Drat. Now he looked depressed.

"However," she quickly added. "We do have other exciting news. Jason and I might be able to come and visit soon! My dad said he might be able to talk the people at our school into letting us go down for a while."

The grin on Leo's face was a mile wide. If anything was going to wake him up, that sure did. "Are you serious?! Oh, man, I can't tell you how much I've missed hanging out with you and the gang!" Both his hands were running through his hair, this time from excitement. "When are you coming? This week?"

Jason shrugged. "We aren't sure, but it probably won't be for a bit yet. Mr. McLean said he wanted us to get settled into school first so we get something done, which makes sense. School only just started."

"True..." Leo's smile faded away for a split second. It came back though when he looked at the two of them. "Hey! When you come, Piper could talk people into getting me back to camp without waiting for those stupid papers! I'd be free! Ah, dude! This is perfect!"

She groaned at that idea because she wanted to _so_ badly, but she knew it couldn't be that simple. "That's not the way it goes, Leo, and you know it."

"Yeah, but can't we make an exception this time? Seriously! You could take me back to camp!"

"Charmspeak only lasts a short period of time. After we get you out of there, they'd be looking for you all over again, and this time they'd have a better chance at finding you. You've told them where you live."

"They couldn't get into camp's boarder. I'd be safe there!"

She gave him a sympathetic look, not wanting to crush his spirits. "Leo... every time you'd leave camp, you would be in risk of being found again. If you do, which is in fact very likely now, all this would start all over again. Isn't that the life you were running from all along? At least with these papers, you wouldn't have to worry about that any more, ever again. If you ask me, waiting for them will be worth it in the end."

His smile faded, thinking it over. Scratching his head, he slowly nodded. "Yeah. I guess. Just thought it was worth a shot."

Suddenly there was a quiet knock. All three of them quickly glanced up at their doors for fear of someone walking in on them. When a woman's voice began to talk, they knew it wasn't Piper's dad.

"Leo, honey, are you awake? I can hear talking."

He gave a panicked look at them and answered the woman behind the door a little too quickly. "Oh, uh, yeah. I'm just watching a little TV before bed. I'll turn it down."

"I thought you said you were doing your homework."

Glancing at his unfinished book work still lying on his bed, he grimaced. "I'm done," he lied.

"Oh, well be sure to get some sleep then, dear. I don't want you getting sick."

"Yeah. Sure. I'm gonna hit the hay soon anyway. Night."

"Goodnight, Leo," and there wasn't another sound from behind the door.

He sighed with relief after waiting a few moments, double checking she was gone. "You know for having a lock on my door, you'd think I'd remember to use it. That scared me."

"Look, we're clearly keeping you guys awake. We don't want to get you in trouble," Piper told him. "We'll talk to you soon, hopefully in person."

"'Kay, but let me know when you're coming, and don't IM me until 10pm. No earlier."

"We'll make sure we're careful," she smiled at him. "You have a good night, Leo."

He waved lazily at them. " _Buenas noches_ (Goodnight). Don't be too long getting here." Then the message ended with a swipe of the hand.

* * *

 **This took a little longer than I thought it would. However, I really wanted his friends to make plans to go see him soon! How great would that be!**

 **YOU CHOOSE: Okay, so I don't know what I want to do for my next chapter quite yet. Either option 1) we can see more bonding between Leo and Alice, or 2) we can see how the next day of school will look for Leo and the Newman's Gang. Review and tell me what you want to see!**

 **Okay, that's it folks! Bye for now!**

 **~supworld-imma-black-cat~ (I got a new user name! I like changing it every once in a while! XP)**


	13. Brownies, Cowards, and Cursive Spaghetti

**Yeah, I know. I haven't updated in how many months? Hope you guys aren't upset in any way. I know I've wanted to work on this story at a faster pace. That hasn't worked out obviously so I'm making it known: because I'm going to school in the fall, and I won't have time to update anything, I've decided this story will be my main focus at the moment. This is the story I am most excited about (and I think you guys are too), therefore, because of my busy schedule, I'm placing _Someday_ on the back burner for a little while. If you are following that story, please know that I would like to continue it, I just don't know when I will be updating it. Sorry for those of you who are disappointed in any way from this news, however I'm sure you understand. I want to continue _A Thousand Ways to Live_ as much as I can though. I have great ideas with that story as well and I would like to get it at least started. Second chapter for it is out by the way!**

 **Anyway, on a side note,** **I finally have my own computer now! Yay! About time, right? Hopefully that will mean I will have a better chance to write more. ;)**

 **And be prepared for a very long chapter guys! Hope this makes up for the wait. It's double the size they usually are.**

 **Reviews:**

yazbk2988: **Sure thing! I'm glad the last chapter was a success. Thank you very much!**

snazzyhatperson: **Thank you so much for your review! :) Don't worry! This is only the beginning! I promise you we _will_ learn more about Leo's past in ways... well... I won't say a lot right now because there is so much more to come, so you will need to continue reading. ;P Don't want to spoil anything...**

Izzy: **My dear, Izzy. Things are on the horizon. We will see them soon. Hold tight. ;)**

 **Here we go! This is it!**

 **WARNINGS:** **RACISM, SWEARING, BULLYING**

* * *

 **~Leo's POV~**

Leo awoke to Alice tapping on his door once again. "Leo, sweetie, it's time to get up. You have school in a short while."

Despite his comfort spread out on his stomach, and only feeling partially awake under his cloud-like pile of blankets, he lifted his head off his pillow and squinted at the time on his nightstand. It took a moment for his eyes to adjust to the blurry numbers but he eventually made out the time. He had to leave in fifteen minutes and he still needed to shower.

"Coming," he croaked not even loud enough for her to hear. He moved his leg in order to get up and ended up accidentally knocking something off his bed with a _thump_. He looked down and saw his history book lying open, face down, and with the pages all bent and folded over. The forgotten homework still lay on his bed from last night, set aside when his friends messaged him. As much as he'd appreciated their chat to check up on him, he felt a little bad for lying to his foster mom about finishing it when he'd barely made a dent. His English essay was due tomorrow and he hadn't even started it yet. Would Ms. Richards have mercy on him being the new guy? It would be nice, at least for this one time. Either way, he needed to make time to write it otherwise he could very possibly be standing up at that wipe board writing lines of poetry the entire class.

Now aware of the books still scattered on his bed, he carefully pushed his blankets to the side and grabbed clean clothes from this dresser so he could shower. Everything inside him was dreading going back to school. He didn't know what Isaac or any of his gang had planned for him and he was hoping like hell it wouldn't be something embarrassing. Isaac seemed like a character who didn't care much about pushing a bit of shame onto someone. What annoyed him most though was the fact that he was letting him. Why was he allowing him to have control? What happened to outsmarting the enemy? Was it too late for that now? He wasn't sure. Over the next few days, Leo planned on observing the Newman Gang. If he could learn to read them, he could find a way to overcome their unfair control over the entire school. He was aware that at the moment it seemed like a stretch. After owning the school for as long as they have, stealing the reigns from them won't be an easy task, and as far as he knew, he could be trying to fight a battle he can't win. Either way, he was prepared to find out. He just hoped the end results wouldn't make all of this a waste of time.

Using his own private bathroom, he hopped in the shower and allowed himself to enjoy, even for a little while, this moment to relax and let everything on his mind go. It was a relief for him. Without him even knowing, he'd been carrying himself around incredibly tense these last few days. Every bone in his body was ready for something to happen and his mind was on defense mode. Now, with a way to wind down, he dared to let out a long heavy sigh and shut his eyes. He could feel the water running over his face and it comforted him. Unfortunately, he'd never experienced what it felt like to have a hot shower. The water was always just warm to him no matter how high the hot water was turned on. It was all he knew, but he was a little sad by that. A hotter temperature sounded really nice right about now.

Feeling the nothing-but-warm water pour down on him even when he finished, he reluctantly shut it off and began to dry himself knowing he'd be late for school if he wasted any more time. Seeing how he could raise his body temperature this only took a few seconds though he did need to run a towel through his chaotic hair. His thick hair always took more of an effort for some odd reason. Dressing into his fresh clothes, he pulled his shirt over his head and hurried back into his room to quickly pack his bag.

Books, books, and more books. Oh, and of course, his tool belt. Isaac and his buddies might make fun of him for carrying it around all the time, but he had a perfectly logical reason why, even if they didn't or wouldn't _ever_ understand that reason. Still, Leo was beginning to feel a hint of embarrassment being seen with it at school. He'd never felt that way about it before, and in fact, he was always proud to show the thing off, but somehow these guys were starting to make him feel ashamed of it. He just couldn't make sense of it. These guys shouldn't be affecting him so much, yet they were. Was his time at camp softening him up or something?

Feeling a little startled, he flinched when he saw his door open just as he was zipping his pack closed. Alice stood with her hand on the nob. "Oh, good. You're dressed. I've got the car started. Did you need money for lunch or do you want me to quickly make something for you?"

Still not fully on speaking terms yet with her, he shook his head and shouldered his bag. "I'm fine. I've got spare cash."

"Alright then," she smiled weakly. "Well, I'll be waiting in the car for you."

When she left he looked around again to see if he was missing anything. Deciding he wasn't, he quickly ran upstairs and grabbed himself an apple for the road before running outside. He opened the passenger door and slumped himself down with the apple between his teeth.

"I got a phone call this morning from one of my nurse friends," Alice started as she backed out of the driveway. "She invited us and a few other families to an end-of-summer barbecue."

Please say he didn't have to go.

"It's tonight at six. I told her we would love to come."

 _Dammit, woman,_ he wanted to cry out... But he didn't... But he wanted to.

"After school I'll come pick you up and then we can look for a dessert to bring. What do you like?" she asked looking over at him. He didn't look back.

"Ida know," he shrugged. "Cookies?"

"What kind?"

"Uh, chocolate chip. Ida know. Just, cookies."

She tapped the steering wheel with her index finger to an unheard beat while she sat in thought. "I could bake those, I suppose. And what about brownies? You like brownies, don't you?"

"Sure." He took another bite.

"I'd have to find a better recipe for those though. The one I have never turns out the way I like. I take it out of the oven and it _looks_ perfect, but to let it sit out and cool..." She shook her head in disappointment. "I always come back to find it dried out. It's more like a cake than a brownie."

"I know a pretty simple recipe that never fails," he suddenly blurted without even being conscious of it, still nibbling at his apple. "It's really good with a cream cheese frosting especially if you add cayenne pepper into the brownie batter. You don't have to put it in, but I would recommend it."

Alice paused for a moment and looked over at him in shock, a smile spread across her face in wonder. "Leo Valdez, you never told me you enjoyed working in the kitchen! When did this start?"

He stopped himself dead in his tracks.

What the hell was he _doing_?! He _promised_ himself he wouldn't open up to her or anyone _ever_! That was his one rule he'd always lived by and here he's just let something spill as easily as saying thank you. Now Alice was looking at him expecting more and thinking he was finally ready to trust her, when in reality he simply slipped up. She knew something more about him and he was mentally smacking himself for it. Idiot!

"I think that's wonderful! Maybe this afternoon then you could teach me this recipe! I'm sure everyone would really enjoy it."

Shit. Now he was being forced into baking brownies with his foster mom. _Way to go, you moron_ , he thought to himself. Maybe he should mention his _camarones a la diabla_ recipe too while he's at it. They'll be cooking up a storm and having a "gay old time". Gods. He just _had_ to open his mouth. Idiot!

He tried giving her a smile but it probably ended up looking like he was in pain. "Yeah, sure. Brownies."

Not picking up on his anything-but-thrilled vibe, Alice continued to gleam at the idea. "Then it's settled. While you're at school I'll go pick up the ingredients."

Alice was excited about the future baking this afternoon, but Leo was struggling to keep up with the positive attitude. For some reason, the mask he wore on a daily basis was gradually getting more difficult to hold. It was almost as if he could feel it slipping away which only made it harder to maintain. On top of that, he'd had dreams again last night. Thankfully they weren't as bad as they had gotten the recent nights, but they were still enough to have an effect on him. He still had no idea why these memories started crawling back into his life. He'd crammed them into the black pit of his consciousness, forcing himself to forget most of the major incidents. Up until this point, it had worked. Now they were slowly returning and he was terrified to learn what was all hidden away in his own head. He didn't want to remember them. He didn't want to remember the erased events in his childhood. What he _hadn't_ blanked out was bad enough.

On top of the whole dream dilemma, and where or why they decided to show up, he was having a hard time simply sitting in the same room as Alice. He was still terrified of her, knowing that the newness of their acquaintance would ware off soon and the realness would start to replace the cheery small talk. Even being with her for as long as he had been already, he wasn't sure what kind of person she would turn out to be. A verbal abuser? Mental abuser? He was yet to find out, but he would hopefully be gone by the time it all started. He didn't want to put up with any more of the abuse.

Trying to keep his responses short and to the point as they talked, they eventually pulled up to the front of the school and Leo opened his door. "Thanks," he muttered and stepped out as soon as they stopped. The car was starting to feel cramped.

"See you after school," Alice called out. "Have a good day, Leo."

With a weak smile, he shut the door and walked towards the school doors. Here goes another day of hell.

* * *

Leo kept his head down as he strode through the halls. He dodged people and squeezed through groups of teenagers huddled together. Reaching his locker he didn't even stop to look if Brownyn was at her own sorting her books. He didn't want to talk to her and silently hoped he wouldn't run into her or Trent or Andy at all today. Was it wrong for him to want to hide and not talk to anyone? Bronwyn mostly. He mostly didn't want to talk to her. The energy she gave off was a lot for him at the moment and he was too tired to amuse her. Shocking, coming from a majorly diagnosed ADHD kid who had a hard time keeping even his feet still, but considering the situation, not so hard to understand.

The one comfort he had in the long run though, while seeing how other students' lockers were decorated in stickers, pictures, and other things to personalize them, Leo's was bare. It was a reminder that no matter how bad it was here, there was hope that he wouldn't be here for long. He promised himself he wouldn't ever decorate his locker. He wouldn't add anything to the inside, or the outside. It would stay blank and cold and hold nothing but his books. Then each time he came to collect or leave books, he'd be reminded. His friends were coming for him. They said they didn't know when, but they were coming.

Too soon, he heard the bell ring and lockers slammed shut. The groups he'd had to pass began to disperse until he was now one of the stragglers rushing to class. From deep inside, a sudden wave of anxiety washed over him leaving his heart pounding in his chest. He didn't want to go class. Isaac would be there. He wanted to skip calculus all together but he knew he couldn't. Isaac would only search for him again and he would only make himself look like a coward. He _had_ to go.

Palms sweating, he tried to steady his breathing, mumbling under his breath to calm down. He leaned his forehead against his locker and shut his eyes tight. What was his _deal_? It was just a school bully. He could handle him. He'd dealt with others when he was younger. Sure, it was emotionally and mentally tiring, but it was doable. He could handle this. Just go in, listen to what the dude wanted, then sit through class. One step at a time.

Still feeling a bit shaky, he took a deep breath and stood straighter. "Get your shit together," he muttered to himself. "Stop acting so weak. He's just a mortal. He's a _mortal_. I can handle him. I can do this." Unsteadily, he then opened his locker and grabbed the books needed for class and sighed, trying to ignore his racing heart. Then he turned and walked down the hall, books in hand.

The minute he stepped through the door, heads turned, Isaac's included. The smirk he wore made Leo want to punch it right off his face. He had things planned, he knew. Even so, Leo couldn't show him any kind of weakness. Treat him like the monster he probably was, he thought to himself. Don't let Isaac get one up on him. Keep one foot ahead of the enemy. And most of all, don't show fear. It was the key to survival.

Realizing he was still standing in the doorway, he tried for his impish grin as nervous as he felt, and saluted the class as if he were a fellow soldier. "At ease," he said in a lowered voice. "Go about your business. Don't mind me."

Avoiding eye contact, he attempted to pass the others already sitting in their desks to the one unoccupied by the window in the back. To do so, however, would mean he would have to pass by Isaac and he knew that wouldn't be an easy task. So when he tried to squeeze past and Isaac blocked him with his foot, it didn't come as a surprise.

"What do you want, _Newton_?" he grumbled just quiet enough for only the two of them to hear.

"You Mexican's really _must_ have small brains," he smiled with forced shock. "Look, don't play stupid with me, Valdez. You know what I want." Leo watched as he pulled out a small sheet of paper from his pocket and handed it to him. "I have a list of things I expect you to do by the end of the day. Complete it, and I'll go a little easier on you tomorrow."

"You do know you could do it yourself, right? You're a big boy," he said sarcastically while trying his best not to show the anxiety coursing through his body.

"What's the fun in that?"

"I'm sure you could find ways. It's called using your brain. Ever heard of it?"

He laughed in response and Leo suddenly feared his voice gave him away. "Yeah, but I'm starting to question if you have. Remember, I'm in charge. Do ask you're asked. You don't need me to explain further."

He didn't let himself linger because if he did, there would be words coming out of his mouth Isaac would _not_ like. Yanking the paper out of his hands, he stormed off to his desk and took a seat just as Mr. Grosling came in.

"Welcome class," Mr. Grosling murmured setting a pile of books down on his desk. "Excuse my lateness again today, but my alarm clock didn't go off and to make it worse, I was stuck in traffic. Go along, make your comments, but they better be through and over with within five seconds. That's when we begin."

As class started, Leo dared to open the paper Isaac had given him. Thankfully Isaac's attention was now on the teacher so he didn't have any side glances full of mockery or anything else that would make his blood boil. Somehow though, that wouldn't have mattered anyway because as soon as he opened it, he already felt his blood pressure increase.

 _TO DO LIST_

 _1) Clean my locker_

 _2) Buy me and my gang lunch_

 _3) Sort Mia's fact cards for her history assignment_

 _Tip: Get these done and you'll earn a reward. And also, it would probably be a good idea to avoid Trent Shaw._

Leo looked up at Isaac again with irritation, but also confusion. Stay away from Trent Shaw? What did _he_ have to do with anything. It wasn't even likely that Trent would let him come near anyway. Yesterday he'd seemed kinda cold towards him. Not once did he ever say hi or acknowledge him even when he _knew_ he saw him. They made eye contact and that was it, like the guy he met at the orientation was a completely different person, or maybe didn't exist at all. There was something odd with that guy, but he had tried not to care too much about it.

Maybe Isaac was just trying to mess with his mind. Trip him up. Get him nervous for no reason. Advising him to stay away from Trent didn't seem like such a hard task. But as for the rest? When would he find time to sort someone else's homework besides his own? And he was pretty sure he didn't have enough money to buy the entire Newman Gang lunch even if he didn't buy anything for himself. Leo wasn't sure if he should be concerned about what would happen if he couldn't complete everything on the list or not. Bronwyn mentioned they often just fought for control by talking big talk, but get on their bad side and it wasn't so simple anymore. That was a bad sign, right?

Calculus went by slowly. He'd finished the homework for this class easily, even despite how late he'd stayed up struggling with the other assignments. Even now, he had free time to draw doodles on his pages while he waited for something more challenging (though mostly he did it to continue calming his anxiety). Surely others were understanding all of this, right? No? Just him? Seeing the confused expressions cross their faces made him realize he was fortunate to know all this like the back of his hand. He'd done similar equations as a five-year-old. This was old news to him. He was bored.

Class ended and Leo quickly cut past the crowd of students exiting the room to once again avoid Isaac, though he kind of figured Isaac wouldn't care to talk to him anymore anyway. He suffered through history where he practically ignored Andy which was actually pretty easy. He blended into the crowd like an antisocial ghost. Kitchen ed. he struggled to keep his happy mask secure while talking with his cooking partner Leah, a girl with black hair, glasses, and a gap in her teeth. Nice girl, but painfully shy. All throughout those classes, despite his anxiety making things harder to concentrate, he had become abnormally restless and jittery. Halfway through Kitchen ed. he realized it was because he'd forgotten to take his medication this morning. That, of course, was probably what was causing a lot of his anxiety. Maybe. But it definitely wasn't helping. And, of course, not being on his medication meant his dyslexia was getting continuously worse. Of all the things to add to his frustrations. School could only get worse from here.

Lunch came too soon. Leo had to run back to his locker to grab his spare cash he'd stashed in his tool belt for safe keeping. He'd give his lunch money to the Newman Gang and quickly try to clean out Isaac's locker while they ate. The only thing he was glad about it was the fact that he could easily stay clear of Bronwyn and Andy that way. They usually sat together from what he learned.

Grabbing his money from his bag, he turned for the cafeteria but stopped when he felt something hit the back of his head. He looked behind him and saw no one but those rushing for lunch. Then he glanced at his feet. A crumpled paper had bounced behind his left foot. Feeling a bit of anxiety returning, he dared to scan the crowd again to see who had thrown it. Still not seeing anyone, he dared to pick it up. There was writing in blue pen he noticed. Deciding to open the paper, he straightened it and attempted to read the wrinkled letters through his worsening dyslexia.

 _On your left_ , he read with a struggle.

When he looked up, he was beyond surprised to find Tent standing beside a door covertly signalling him over. Well, there goes Isaac's warning. Tell a person to avoid a specific someone, and that someone will find ways to make an easy task ten times harder. Of course Leo listened to Trent. He was a curious demigod.

"Oh, so now you want to talk?" Leo asked with a bit of irritation in his voice when he walked up to him. "Yesterday you made it very clear you didn't want anything to do with me."

Trent didn't respond right away. Instead he looked from side to side as if looking for a certain person, and then yanked Leo inside the room behind the door. He shut it and Leo realized they were hiding in a supply closet.

"What? You gonna mug me?" he asked.

"What? No."

"Then why did you just pull me in a closet?"

"To apologize."

"Apologize?"

"Look," Trent started as if he didn't know what to say. "I'm sorry about yesterday. I know I acted rude and kinda cold towards you."

"Kinda?"

"Okay, really rude and a lot cold. But I'm not actually that kind of person."

He crossed his arms. He didn't buy it.

Trent's expression deflated and he slouched his shoulders. "Come on, man. Give me a break."

"Why should I? At the orientation I thought you could be a cool guy. Next time I see you, you pretend I don't exist. You realize I'm not worth your time anymore or something?"

He shifted his weight on either foot looking uncomfortable. "I can explain."

"Then start talking, 'cause I'm in a hurry." He was starting to feel panicky that Isaac would notice he was missing and start looking for him.

"Okay," he started. "See, I don't like admitting this. I'm not proud of it, but... well, the Newman Gang and I have a history. Last year, beginning of first semester, I was introduced to the group. We realized our parents have things in common. My Dad has a pretty high end job at Mr. Newman's business and they get along. That kind of got me a free pass from their teasing. Eventually, they started talking with me until at lunch they even started inviting me to sit with them. Day after day, I hung out with them more and more.

"See, I'd grown up around Brownyn and Andy. They were the ones I'd spent time with. But then, well, high school came about and I started making other friends, joined the football team, had a few girlfriends. I had started getting distant between them, which, let's face it, is likely to happen when you grow older, but the way I was..." He sighed scratching behind his ear. "When they started noticing me hanging out with the Newman Gang, they saw I'd started to act like one of them too and became bitter towards me. After what I've done... I don't really blame them. Andy and I got into a fight about it. He's a pretty big joke to Isaac and the rest. With a surname like Wibit?"

Leo cringed. Yeah, that surname did suck. Who wanted to be reminded of a frog every time your name was called?

"Anyway, we got into a fight and it ended with me giving him a black eye. Seeing him on the ground and what I'd done to him woke me up right then and there. I began to notice how much the Newman Gang influenced me. After that, well, I started to rebel against their habits. Right in front of them, I dared talk with the new kids and in actual friendly conversation rather than teasing and making fun of them. I opened doors for others. Simple things like that. That didn't fly for Isaac. He knew something about me changed, and so they started treating me different."

Trent almost seemed uncomfortable sharing this part of the story, like he was trying not to let something show. Leo knew enough to know what it was. It was hurt. Bullying _sucked_.

"At first I didn't really care. I knew what they were doing was only for attention and control. But then things got bad between us. They wanted to know if I was really loyal to the group, so they..." he swallowed and crossed his arms. "They dared me to do some pretty horrible things I didn't want to do. I should mention, though, that as much as I hung out with them, I was still weary of them. I knew I couldn't fully trust them, but I was ..." He sighed and didn't go on for a few moments. Leo didn't think he would until he took a different stance, one that seemed to be in defense. "I was scared that if I got on their bad side, if I continued to purposely do things they didn't like, they'd start teasing me like they did everyone else. So I was forced to go back to the way I was when I first joined them. Eventually though, I found a window and stopped hanging out with them. I haven't really talked with them since, but I know if they see me hanging out again with... uh... well... school's complicated for me at the moment."

"So this is a pride thing," Leo deadpanned. "Your ignoring me yesterday. You were afraid they would tease you if they saw you talking to me."

"Leo, listen -"

"And that's why you've pulled me aside to apologize in a freaking _closet_." Trent sighed and tried to cut in, but Leo stopped him and kept going. "You know, maybe they have a right to tease you. You're a damn coward."

"I pulled you aside to apologize and warn you. They always go after the new kids."

"No, you pulled me aside to cover your own ass! If you were so worried they'd come after me, why didn't you be the first to step in? You saw me talking with them at lunch, and you just sat there with your buddies like you didn't care!"

"Leo, what did they say to you?" he asked in a softer tone, one a person could almost say was concerned.

"Why does it even matter?" Leo fought back. "Point is, you knew what kind of people they are and you did _nothing_! You ignored me because _you_ were afraid to be made fun of. Yeah. Real nice. Guess now I know why Bronwyn and Andy choose not to hang out with a guy like you. They don't want to make you feel vulnerable like everyone else in this school."

"That's not..."

"That's not what?" he dared ask, glaring at him. "True? A comment they made yesterday made it pretty clear that you don't bother trying to hang out anymore. It's because of your ego, you being seen with someone other than the football team. Isaac can't get you when you hang with the football team, can he?"

Trent's frown turned into that of guilt. Leo should have felt bad for making him feel that way, but at the moment, with how angry he was getting, he didn't care. He deserved to feel a bit of guilt.

"Am I wrong to assume Bronwyn and Andy don't bother trying hanging out with you either?" he said bitterly. "Being a friend isn't about deciding whether or not you're okay to be seen with them. It's about _risking_ being seen with them even when you know you could be a target."

He looked at his shoes in silence.

"Some friend." Leo turned to leave but Trent grabbed his arm and pulled him back.

"Leo, stop. I get it, okay? I'm a coward and a horrible friend. I should have stepped in. I'm sorry. But I know what they're really capable of. People think they're 'respectable' because they just talk big talk. After hanging out with them though, I know what harm they can really do even with just talk."

"Then do something," he said with frustration. "Stop cowering in a corner with your thumb up your ass and _do_ something!" He didn't give Trent a chance to respond because he pulled the door open and stormed down the hall. All the anxiety he'd felt only moments ago had melted away into anger.

This explained everything. Isaac's note telling him to stay away from Trent was a warning not to listen to him. To stop him from learning their past relationship. Now he wished he'd followed that advice. Knowing that Trent could have stopped this was so damn frustrating he could have burst into flames. What a coward! He _knew_ Isaac would go after him. He saw him talking with them. And still, he continued to ignore it all and pretend that he didn't see anything because he was worried the Newman Gang would tease him too. What was he planning to do then? Sit back and watch while others were picked on, humiliated, belittled? He didn't plan on stopping them when they came across someone vulnerable? Leo was starting to hate this school. If everyone here acted this way, he had a problem with it. Why did Alice seem so pleased with this place? Why did she lie about it?

Isaac and his group were standing at the entrance of the cafeteria when Leo got there. From the looks on their faces, they were waiting for a while.

"About time," Oliver muttered. "I'm starving."

"We were about to come find you," Isaac said with a raised eyebrow. "What took you so long."

"Nothing worth mentioning," he grumbled back. He slapped the cash in Isaac's hand. "There. It's all I have on me. Knock yourself out."

He was silent as he counted the bills. Then he looked up and met his gaze. "You think this is gonna feed all of us?"

"It's gonna have to. Can't get money from mid air."

"You pack anything?"

"Just books. But I don't suppose you would want to eat those. Then I could legit say a dog ate my homework."

That was probably the wrong thing to say at the moment. They all looked at one another like they were all thinking the same thing, probably "this kid's gonna get it".

"I don't think you understand when I say don't push it," Isaac grumbled jabbing a finger at his chest. "I'll give you this _last_ warning. After that, we won't bother being so nice. And tomorrow? Make sure you bring enough cash. I won't let it slide so easily as today."

"Next time," he saluted sounding bitter even to him, and began walking away. "Better get in line. Food's all gonna be picked over and money won't be the only issue anymore."

Can a person have a worse day? Would he find out Bronwyn and Andy have secrets too they haven't shared? Was this all a joke or something? Really. Only half-way through school and he was already having a crappy day. It was probably asking too much if he prayed for the rest of the day to go by faster. And then there was this stupid barbecue he had to look forward to. And making freaking brownies. That thought alone was making him miserable. Like he cared about meeting total strangers and expected to actually get along with them. And bake your own damn brownies for Zeus's sake! Why did Alice need his help? Who cares if the brownies turn out a little dry? Maybe he'd find some way out of it when he got back to the house. Complain that he was tired or something.

Isaac had given him the combination to his lock on the list which he now carried in his back pocket. He'd wanted to throw it away as soon as he had the chance, but now he wasn't so sure he could. Isaac didn't seem to be afraid to get hands on if Leo didn't do his dirty work. If he was serious about that being his last warning, chances are he meant it. Because of that, Leo wasn't sure he would be able to do as he wanted with the group. How _would_ he take control? _Could_ he? At this point, simply sitting back and watching how they did things wasn't going to help much. He'd fooled himself into thinking it might have, and maybe it still could work, but he was only one person. Everyone else was too scared to confront him and the rest. Even if he did find a way to weaken them, no one else would be willing to help. Barely even starting, Leo realized he was fighting a losing battle. He's already lost.

On a side note, Leo was relieved to learn that Isaac's locker was halfway across the school from where his own was. That way Bronwyn or anyone else he knew, mainly Trent or Andy, wouldn't most likely find him digging around in someone else's locker, and one especially being Isaac's. When he finally unlocked and opened the door, he froze and stood staring at the mess with a groan. Although there was no moldy food, gross gym socks, or anything that smelled unpleasant (thank the gods), there certainly was a mess to be cleaned. Books and loose papers were scattered and crumpled everywhere. A pen dropped and rolled to the floor, stopping at his feet. Taped to the inside of his locker door were notes which were possibly answers to past tests, posters of movies and, well... _other_ things he didn't like lingering on. He made an effort not to pay any attention to them.

Leo picked up the pen and got to work sorting out the books. He felt angry, hurt, and embarrassed the way they were using him so easily. He wanted to know what was causing them to target him as much as they were. Sure, they were racist and he was a new kid on top of that, but was that seriously the only reason that encouraged them to hunt him down? He shouldn't have worn his tool belt that day. It just fed them ideas on how to pick on a Mexican guy. And, okay. What he said did push them the wrong way, but really? Holding a grudge much?

Digging through everything he decided that bringing over one of the hall garbage cans would be worth his time. Most of the loose papers went directly in it. And there was a lot of dirt and sand dusting the bottom of the locker. At least he hoped that's all that stuff was. He had to use his hands to wipe it all out as disgusting as it was. By the time he was done, his hands felt grainy and dry. He washed them using the water fountain just across from him and prayed he wouldn't ever have to do that again.

He finished, thankfully, without anyone he knew spotting him. In fact, he hadn't seen anyone pass by him really, and the people who did, didn't pay any attention to him. Thankfully cleaning Isaac's locker out didn't take as long as he'd thought. He even realized he had time to kill. Sorting out Mia's fact cards for history would probably be a wise thing to start while he did have the time. That would mean, though, facing them again in front of the whole school. They sat as a group. As much as he wanted to wait and see if they would actually remember about it, he knew that if they did, it would be too late in the day and he'd have to take the cards home and deal with them alongside his own homework, which meant that everything would be set back even further. Better to do them now.

As he walked back down the hall thinking about how he was going to approach the group again, hopefully without Trent watching and not bothering to do anything, that coward, he tried to keep himself from cursing when he bumped into Bronwyn. Honestly. How hard was it to avoid even a single person in this freaking school?!

"Oh, hey, Bronwyn," he faked a smile.

"Leo, there you are!" she said with her hands on her hips. "I was looking all over for you. Where'd you go? You didn't come for lunch."

"Uh, I wasn't hungry," he lied. Truth was, he was starving. He hadn't had anything but that apple to eat all day.

"Really?"

"Yeah. I'm good though."

"Well you're still invited to sit with us at the yellow table you know. Hey," she suddenly said looking around weirdly. "What are you doing all the way over here? You didn't just come back from the gym, have you?"

"What? No. Where is the gym again?"

"Just around the corner. Whatcha up to then?"

He glanced around as well trying to decide what excuse to use. "Uh, I got lost trying to find the bathrooms."

"You silly," Bronwyn laughed at him. "There are some right across from the cafeteria. I saw you find it yesterday after lunch. You feeling okay?"

"Oh, I guess I forgot about that. Yeah. I am," he lied again.

"That's okay," she assured him tucking her pink hair behind her ear. "This place is new and you're still trying to find your way around. Come on. I'll lead you back to the cafeteria. Andy and I need someone to talk to."

Leo racked his brain to think of a way out of it, but he had nothing. He didn't have much of a choice but to follow. "Sure."

"Great," and she began leading him down the hallway.

* * *

They entered the cafeteria and Leo couldn't help looking over at the Newman Gang out of curiosity. They looked back at him and snickered but didn't do anything else. Trent sat with his buddies again, but he didn't seem too cheerful. He had his head hung low as he fiddled with his food. Leo still didn't feel bad for him telling him what he did though. He needed to hear it.

He sat down at the yellow table and forced himself to talk with Bronwyn and Andy. Once again, Andy didn't get too involved in the conversation with his head in his text book, but he did try a little more today. He learned that he had signed up for the Science Club as an attempt to get out a little more as was suggested by his parents. Wasn't much of an attempt in Leo's eyes, but hey, he wasn't judging. If it made the guy feel a little braver, by all means...

Besides forcing himself to visit, it made Leo uncomfortable feeling the gang's eyes on him the entire lunch hour but he tried to ignore it. Unfortunately it only reminded him he still had one last thing on the list to complete before the day was done. He might have to wait until he went home to get the cards done after all. And then that stupid essay. Zero thought had been put into it.

"And so I thought maybe tomorrow we could try rock climbing since I don't have anything planned. You said you were free, right Leo?"

He was fiddling with his watch, being very much aware of Jack from the Newman Gang motion to him as they all talked. "Huh? Oh. Yeah. Sure," he murmured distractedly. The minute hand was a little slow so he twisted the nob and moved it forward a bit.

"Than that's what we'll do! My driver's test should be done around five. If I pass, which I think I should with the amount of practice I got, I can come pick you up."

"Mmm," he nodded only half listening and began frantically tapping patterns on the table with his fingers as if trying to play some sort of complicated piano piece as he bounced his legs up and down. It was extremely hard for him to sit still at the moment, not only from his major ADHD, but his essay was starting to eat at him on top of that. If he had that and Mia's cards to complete by tomorrow, he might have to skip the barbecue Alice was wanting to take him to. As much as he did _not_ want to go, choosing to stay home with a pile of homework wasn't something he usually did. This barbecue was sounding less daunting the more he thought about it.

"Is 5:30 okay? Just to be safe."

"Huh?" he turned his attention back to her.

"To pick you up. We could go for something to eat before if you wanted."

"Oh, it doesn't really matter," he muttered thrumming his fingertips against the table. "Sure."

Eventually lunch ended and they dispersed, Leo still deep in thought. Further and further into the day, his brain was sputtering to a stop. It was near impossible to read anything anymore during classes, but he laid low. Letters danced and shuffled across the page and the mere thought of sitting still was irritating him. He'd get annoyed glances from students across from him telling him to stop banging his pencil against his desk. For their sake, he stopped, but the only way to feel sane was to keep moving, so he'd do something else that would annoy them, not meaning to though. He tried _so hard_ to sit still. It was getting to the point where, physically, he was becoming so uncomfortable with not moving, he stopped caring about what others thought and did the only thing he knew how to stay sane. His legs bounced and his hands were constantly busy folding pieces of paper, fiddling with the eraser on the end of his pencil, and tucking curls behind his ears. From time to time, he'd even catch himself tapping speedy messages in Morse code with his fingernails, mainly the one he knew best: _I love you_. The toes of his shoes bumped the legs of his desk repeatedly and his nose itched. Always, his nose itched. He wiped it with the back of his hand once more.

While this was happening in English, Leo's attention was pulled to the front very suddenly. "Leo," Ms. Richards repeated.

"W-what?" he stammered sitting up a little straighter. Everyone was looking at him, Mia included.

"What, _ma'am_ ," she corrected.

"Ma'am," he echoed.

"I asked if you could stand and read the line of poetry on the board and describe what you think it means."

He glanced up at the wipe board where he saw writing in red marker. The quotations were the only thing he could make out. Without having taken his medication this morning, reading even a simple block font was difficult. Expecting him to read cursive was near impossible. Why did she have to write in cursive?

"M-ma'am," he tried feeling his anxiety start up again. His heart picked up speed. "Is... is it okay if someone else reads it?"

Ms. Richards raised an eyebrow. "I asked you, Leo. Now why don't you stand and tell us what you think it means."

"Please, ma'am, I don't -"

"Come on," she pressed. "Everyone else has at least answered one question. You've been silent the whole class and I like getting everyone involved."

Leo wanted to fight her but then he remembered what Bronwyn and the others had told him. Ms. Richards didn't like disobedience. He didn't want to know what she would do if he didn't listen to her.

Feeling everyone's eyes on him, he very slowly made it to his feet, and while some students even offered smiles and encouraging nods mentally telling him that he could do this, it didn't fix the issue that was his ADHD brain. His dyslexia was on high gear.

Ms. Richards held her hands in front of her with patience waiting for him. He swallowed hard and reminded himself to breathe. Bringing his gaze up to the board, he tried his very best to concentrate. He began at the first word and attempted to go slow. Just as he thought that he might be able to make out the word, letters started to jump around, the first ones hopping to the end, and the end letters shifting to the middle of the quote mixing in with other words. He strained his eyes as he tried to make sense of it. B's turned to D's, A's turned to V's, T's turned to L's... and then they shot across the board like they were trying to escape. Even blinking a few times didn't help.

Leo's palms were beginning to sweat knowing how long he had been standing now with his eyes studying the board. With all his will power, he tried to make out even one single word, but his brain wasn't having it. His heart pounded. His breaths were shaky. From beside him, he heard a couple students whispering to each other. He couldn't hear what they were saying, but it was enough to distract him, making him lose all focus. Now the words on the board were a hopeless case of long cursive spaghetti. He decided to give up.

Trying to keep his voice from quivering in humiliation, he murmured, "I-I can't."

Ms. Richards crossed her arms and leaned against her desk. "Maybe if you read it out loud it will make a little more sense."

He balled his fists and kept his head down. Swallowing the lump in his throat, he stuttered, "I... I-I can't."

"Have you even tried?"

"Yes, I've... " He was beyond frustrated with himself. "I just... I _can't_."

"What is it you can't understand?"

His eyes were beginning to water. The stares he was getting felt as though they were mentally backing him into a corner. Mia's gaze burned through him. She was waiting for him to answer Ms. Richards question like everyone else in the room. He hated how the teacher was asking him so many questions. He didn't want to answer her. If he did, if he told her the truth, then Mia would tell the others about his disability. His dyslexia would be known and it would only be something _else_ the Newman Gang could use against him.

Leo was _humiliated_. He wished with all his might that the ground would open up and engulf him, that the shadows would steal him away. Being Nico di Angelo sounded really great right about now.

"Well?" Ms. Richards pressed. "What do you not understand?"

"I... " The lump in his throat grew and he feared his tears would overflow. Faces were starting to become blurry. "I-I... I..."

"Let's narrow it down," she tried to help. "Who is this poem by?"

Desperate for her to let him sit down again, he just shook his head, holding his breath. He was afraid if he exhaled, the tears would come pouring out and he wouldn't be able to stop them. Gods! He felt like such a little kid. He was a sad pathetic child unable to read even a name. Please let this end! _Please_!

"I d-don't... I don't know," he nearly whispered, his throat tightening bad enough that he could hardly swallow anymore.

"Well I wrote it right on the board underneath. His name was Malachi Finch ( **totally making this up 'cause I don't know anyone XD** ). When we look back at the collection of other poems in his books, we can see they all hold a _theme_. Something they have in common. Being as well-known as they are, I assume you know at least a couple. Can you tell me then, what they all might have in common?"

He stayed silent. For obvious reasons, he never picked up any of this guy's books. He barely even knew his name to begin with. How was he supposed to tell her what they all shared in common?

Ms. Richards was finally losing her patience. "Leo! Are you just going to stand there looking at your feet, or are you going to answer my question? What is the theme?"

"M-ma'am... I c-can't," he croaked.

Before she could pressure him further, the bell rang signalling the end of classes for the day. The students all around him immediately began gathering their things at the sound and stood to leave. Some of them looked his way before the left, though he couldn't tell if they were smirking, confused, or sympathetic, because at this point, he couldn't see a thing through his tears other than fuzzy shapes. Ms. Richards, not seeming at all pleased with being interrupted with class began shouting reminders that their essay's were due tomorrow and other important announcements Leo didn't bother listening to. On their way out the door, from what he could tell, a few students handed over papers to Ms. Richard at her desk. Some of the class had probably already finished their essays and could now sleep easy. Not Leo.

He let out a shaky breath as he watched the group disappear through the door. He was still standing at his desk with his hands balled into fists trying to regain control of himself. He could hear the blood pumping in his ears, and a high pitched ringing. At the front desk, Ms. Richards began gathering her own things, not bothering to look up at him. He knew she was aware he was still standing there, but she purposely ignored him. He was glad she wasn't saying anything because he would have to answer. He didn't want to try talking for fear of breaking down. Then his already horrible day would turn into the most embarrassing day in the history of school.

Still not trusting himself not to cry but not wanting to stay any longer, he finally grabbed his books and left the room feeling Ms. Richards's eyes on him the entire way. He didn't bother looking back at her.

He hurried through the halls with his head down. With everyone finished classes, the noise from the crowds of students were enough to cover his heavy breathing. He was very glad he knew where his own locker was because at this time his vision was so blurry from tears, he could hardly see in front of him. When he did reach it, he found an envelope taped to the door with something written on it. He didn't even bother trying to read what it said. Instead he ripped it off and stuffed everything into his backpack as fast as he could. Then, to make things worse, he heard Bronwyn calling his name behind him from her own locker. She was trying to pass the students blocking her way to him, but he didn't try making it easier for her. Practically slamming his locker door shut, he frantically made his own way through the crowd to the front doors where Alice said she would meet him. He hoped more than anything that she was their already. He didn't know what he'd do if she wasn't.

"Leo!" Bronwyn called trying to get his attention. "Hey, Leo!"

He pretended he didn't hear her and kept moving.

"Behind you!"

Pushing open the doors, he broke free from the narrow halls into fresh air. And, thank the gods! Alice kept her word. Parked at the front steps was the black Sedan waiting for him. He wasted no time opening the door and dropping himself in.

Alice must have been able to pick up on his mood right away because her smile faded almost immediately. "Leo? Are you alright?"

"Go."

She opened her mouth to say something but something grabbed her attention outside and she looked out the passenger's window. "Leo, Bronwyn is waving at you. Are you -"

"Just go!" he snapped.

He didn't need to repeat it a third time. At his request, Alice shifted the car into drive and pulled away from the curb.

They sat in silence for three blocks. During that time, Leo rested his chin in his hand, his elbow resting on the door. He was still trying to hold back his tears which was getting harder by the minute, and kept his sniffling to a bare minimum. Alice's car rode smooth so the stillness was more noticeable. Any noises he made would bring attention to him.

Apparently he didn't need to sniffle for his foster mom to start talking. "You know I'm willing to pick you up half-way through the day. All you need to do is phone."

He didn't answer.

"What happened today?" she glanced over at him as if she was worried. "You can tell me."

A tear managed to fall down his cheek and he quickly wiped it away before she noticed. The quick movement probably gave it away though.

"Was it someone at the school? One of the students?" When he still didn't answer, she looked over at him a little longer. It took a few moments for her to decide if she should ask what was on her mind or not. After a few more seconds, she gave in and dared to ask, "Does it have something to do with what happened at the shelter?"

His gaze met hers for a split second before going back to the floor. He wanted to tell her no, because it wasn't, but he still didn't trust himself to talk. He feared that if he did, his voice either wouldn't work, or it would sound croaky and like someone who had obviously been crying. He settled for shaking his head.

"Are you sure?"

He nodded.

It seemed like she didn't know what to say. She kept glancing back between him and the road like she was worried he'd disappear or something. Then she got that expression that gave away that she was deep in thought, questions building upon questions. He hated that look.

Finally, she took the opportunity. "Leo, please. _Please_ tell me what's wrong, sweetie. What's happening? I know we just met and you don't fully trust me yet, but I can't help you if you don't let me. You need to start talking, honey. What's been going on? I understand if you don't feel comfortable sharing your personal feelings and you don't have to share that. But talking about whatever it is you're going through, even if it's a small part, is important."

That's when he broke. All the built-up tears he'd been holding back suddenly burst out of him like someone let open a dam, and he didn't know why. He brought his legs up to his chest and buried his face in his knees in embarrassment once again.

 _No!_ he scolded himself. He'd tried so hard to keep it together! Why, now, was he unable to hold his composure? Now he sat there sobbing like a baby while Alice sat beside him not knowing what to do with him. This was exactly what he didn't want happening!

"Oh, honey," she said softly and put a hand on his shoulder but he was quick to nudge it off. "Sweetie..."

"L-leave me alone," he sobbed as he curled into a tighter ball. "Please. Just... leave me alone!"

She was about to say something in protest probably, but thought better of it. Instead, she put both her hands back on the wheel with a frown. "Alright..." she nearly whispered.

With each sob, he tried to calm himself. To concentrate on breathing. The harder he tried through, the more difficult it was to stop. He wasn't sure if Mia was going to tell the group about him crying in front of the whole class or not, but he was betting she would. Everyone had probably thought a sixteen-year-old was too old to cry like that, and they were right. If only they knew the reason why... and even then, would they make fun of him for it? That's what happened in other schools when he was little. None of the other students understood his dyslexic problem growing up. His past friends tried not to linger on it with him, but he still felt they hadn't known much about it either. He hated being a demigod. He hated all that came in the package of being a child of the gods. ADHD, dyslexia... All of it.

His friends at camp had all put up with him this entire time, which he was more than grateful about. They knew. They understood because they had the same issues. But the mortal world was a lot harder. He wanted to go back home.

They pulled up to the house eventually. At this point, he'd managed to calm down. His eyes were puffy and his cheeks felt tight from the tear stains still drying. Alice unlocked the door to the house and they went in. Immediately, he went to his room and closed himself in, throwing his backpack on the desk chair and flopping himself on his bed. As he lay there a while, he could hear Alice coming downstairs as well and his heart pounded. Please. Don't come knock on the door. He didn't want to talk about what happened. Couldn't she pick that up?

Thankfully though, he didn't hear her knock on his door. Instead, he heard her fussing with a machine in one of the other rooms. It sounded like she was doing laundry. He silently listened to her working for a solid ten minutes. Then the phone rang and she stopped.

"Hello?" Alice said from the other side of the door. "Oh, hi, Tina, how are you?... That's good... I'm doing fine, thanks." There was a long pause. Then she said in a quieter tone, "Well it's interesting you phoned to double check because I was just about to phone you myself... yes... Well, you see, Leo has had a difficult day at school today and I don't believe he'll be up to attending tonight." There was another pause as this Tina lady spoke. "Yes, I know," Alice said in a sympathetic tone. "Me too... Mhmm... Yes, I'll be staying home as well. Feeling the way he is at the moment, I don't believe it would be fare to leave him on his own." Another lengthy pause. "Well then I hope the rest of you have a good evening then. I'll have to catch up with you later and... Of course. Thanks for understanding. Next time... Alright, Tina. I'll talk to you later... Alright, goodbye."

Well at least he didn't have to go to the barbecue tonight after all. He tried to feel relieved about that while he lay in bed, but all he felt was miserable.

* * *

 **Wow! That was long (almost 11,000 words including my author's notes *cough* *cough*). I wanted to break it up, but 1) I didn't want to have another school day part 1 and 2 again, and 2) I couldn't find a place to separate the chapter, so I kept it as is. Hope you enjoyed it. It was difficult writing a chapter this long. XP**

 **Chow!**

 **~supworld~**


End file.
